The Girl Called Sight
by xXSwanSongXx
Summary: When Kisame and Itachi stumble upon an unconscious woman with an intriguing power, they pull her into the world of Akatsuki thinking that the can use her for their own aims. But as the demon shark gets to know the woman, he finds someone who isn't totally unlike himself.
1. Chapter 1

Shiryoku sat at on a riverbank, listening to the water rushing past her. To any casual observer, the young woman looked like a normal twenty year old girl. She was of average height and build, had black hair that stopped mid-back, slightly tan skin, and wore a simple outfit of capris and a yellow tank top with a white jacket. The only odd things about the girl were the bandages wrapped around her eyes and her sharp, pointed teeth. For all intents and purposes, the girl was average. And that is exactly how she wanted to be perceived.

She sighed deeply, stretching her arms above her head before removing her sandals and wading into the water. She kept one foot on the shore, so as not to loose her bearings once in the river. It was a hot, humid summer day that made Shiryoku feel like she was swimming in sweat the moment she woke up. She had visited this country once as a child, a long time ago, before her world had been cast into darkness. It had been spring when she and her mother had visited, before the real heat had set in. The greenery of the country was what had stuck in Shiryoku's memory, causing her to call into question why she had to have lost her eyesight. It was a cruel irony that her name meant 'sight' when she had none. Her fingers carefully grazed the badges along her head, longing for the days when she could still use her eyes.

Her hands fell into the river, bringing palmfuls of water to her neck and face, trying to wash away the sweat of this humid country. It amazed her how quickly the heat hit as soon as she crossed the border from the Land of Rivers. Walking for the past day and a half made the girl miss the watery terrain of her home country. But she had to leave, Shiryoku would not regret finally getting away from that damned clan.

The water she drenched herself with was cool and comforting against her tired skin, but did surprisingly little to help her feel relief from the oppressive heat. Unwinding her bandages with one hand, Shiryoku brought water to her forehead, carefully trying to keep it from getting it in her eyes. She didn't know why it mattered, but old habits died hard.

A quiet rustling from the riverbank behind her caused Shiryoku's ears to perk up, listening for anything more to happen. The girl stood up straight, concentrating on the sounds around her. Cicadas droned in the distance, drowning out the sound of any birds. As a small breeze blew past Shiryoku, she tilted her nose in the air trying to discern any scents that would have been out of the ordinary. Other than the village that was about 6 leagues to the southeast, Shiryoku couldn't smell anything that wasn't naturally occurring.

_'Perks of loosing your eyesight: smell and hearing are infinitely better.'_ She thought to herself.

When no sound came to her again, she returned her attention to the river at her feet. She would kill for a canteen of water, but the girl knew better than to drink from the foreign river. Hell, cooling herself off in the water was a risk in itself. The quality of the water she was standing in was unknown, but Shiryoku was so hot she didn't care. Shiryoku figured that so long as she didn't swallow it, she would be fine. Deciding her small romp in the river had been satisfactory, Shiryoku returned to the shore. Two steps inland, she found her shoes. Three paces forward and one to the left sat a rock large enough for the girl to sit on while putting her sandals back on. Shiryoku hated having to judge short distances in terms of how many steps she had to take, but it was the easiest way for her to get a lay of an area in the quickest amount of time.

The rustling she had heard returned. This time she ignored the noise, but her nose instantly picked up on a change in the smells around her. Trying to feign indifference to the new scent, Shiryoku continued to fix her sandal. Two people stood behind her, hiding in the bushes about 10 steps in and 4 to the right.

Shiryoku stood from her rock and started to walk towards the strangers. As she approached, they dropped their guard, allowing for their chakra signatures to be sensed. She couldn't see the distinct patterns the pair gave off, but the electrical surge she felt gave her a clue as to the two people hiding in front of her. They were most definitely members of her clan. One of them stepped out from behind the bushes.

"You know, running off like that really was not a smart decision, Little Sister." A rough, male voice spoke, forcing Shiryoku to freeze.

_'Shit!'_ Her mind screamed. _'Not him. If he's here, then she is -'_

"Came back home with us, and I'm sure Daddy will be easy on you." A second voice stated. This one was female, but still terrifying in the young woman's ears. A part from one another, they were a force to be reckoned with, the strongest and and most ruthless of her clan. They had both been promoted to jonin by the time they were ten years old. If they were working together, then Shiryoku did not stand a change of fleeing.

_'Why did it have to be them?'_

"Little Sister, come home." The male voice cooed, taking another stepped toward Shiryoku. She stumbled backwards, trying to weigh her options. She could run, which would be problematic as she did not know the terrain. The village eighteen miles to the southeast could potentially offer her refuge, but getting back to the road from the riverbank would be difficult. The woman would not be able to see any obstacles that would pop up and could prove to be a fatal mistake. Finding the river had been dangerous enough, she had tripped over an untended root, momentarily causing her to forget how many footsteps she had traveled since leaving the road.

But, if she stayed, if she tried to fight, Shiryoku was certain that she would either die or be taken back to Tanigakure. Death was preferable to that place. Shiryoku turned ninety degrees to her right, the river should be fourteen paces straight ahead. If she was lucky, Shiryoku could get to the water and dive in before the pair could get to her.

Halfway to the riverbank, Shiryoku's hair was caught and pulled on, forcing her to the ground. "Little Sister, it isn't wise to run from us." The female spoke, tugging harshly on Shiryoku's hair. A small gasp escaped her lips as her sister yanked her head backwards. "Daddy wants us to bring you home, but he didn't specify what condition you should be in." Despite not being able to see her sister's face, Shiryoku knew there was a sadistic smirk plastered across it.

"Akane, don't hurt her." Shiryoku's brother said, pulling Akane's hand from her hair. He wrapped his arm protectively across Shiryoku's chest.

"Eiji!" Akane whined as her twin pulled Shiryoku up by her shoulders.

"Father wants her to come home, so we will bring her home in one piece."

Shiryoku pulled away from her older brother's grasp, trying to escape to the river, but large hands pulled her back. Eiji clutched her tightly against his chest, trying to subdue her. Shiryoku stopped struggling for the moment, allowing her brother to relax his grip. "Good girl." He cooed, raising his hand to pet Shiryoku's obsidian hair. Taking a lucky shot, Shiryoku's mouth snapped open, clamping on to his moving hand. Eiji groaned at the pain of Shiryoku's razor sharp teeth baring down on his hand. Being bitten by his little sister hurt like hell, but he had experienced far greater pains when his Kekkei Genkai had be released. Blood greedily trickled from his bite wounds, filling Shiryoku's mouth.

"Don't let her bite you, Idiot!" Akane yelled at her brother, trying force Shiryoku off of the man. Her fist struck the top of Shiryoku's head, accidentally forcing her teeth deeper into Eiji's hand. He grabbed hold of her nose, forcing her to open her mouth to breathe. Shiryoku released her brother's hand, gasping for air, accidentally inhaling some of Eiji's blood, throwing her into a crimson coughing fit.

"You're bleeding…" Akane stated, looking horrified at her twin brother's hand.

"No shit." He sarcastically remarked, trying to get a good look at the perfectly formed teeth marks.

"Did you bleed in her mouth?" Akane dove at the young woman, prying apart her jaws. The inside of Shiryoku's maw was coated with blood. Akane forced her hand into Shiryoku's mouth in an attempt to jam her fingers down her throat. "Spit it out!" The crazed woman screamed at her younger sister, trying to force her little sister to throw up . "Spit it out now!"

"Father is going to kill us if -"

"She's going to kill us! Dammit, why don't you have a gag reflex!?" Akane yelled. She desperately tried to force her fingers further down Shiryoku's throat, but her hand had reached as far as they could manage. The older woman pulled her hand out of her sister's mouth, and began pulling her toward the river. Akane forced Shiryoku's head underwater. "Spit the blood out now, you little bitch!" She spat at her sister again. Shiryoku coughed up some of the blood, but not enough for Akane's liking. The elder sibling pushed her away before retreating toward Eiji. "Run."

Akane pulled her twin from their sister, trying to flee to the road, but it was too late. Shiryoku's Kekkei Genkai had activated.

* * *

"Can't believe we were inside a frog's gullet…" Kisame shuddered as he reminisced about the pair's failed mission. "Damned pervert." He cursed the Toad Sage under his breath. Itachi stopped suddenly, turning his head awkwardly to the south. As he did, Samehada began grumbling on Kisame's back, wiggling as if trying to free itself.

"Do you sense it?" Itachi asked, activating his Sharingan. An curious feeling came over Kisame, as a tidal wave of energy washed over the blue man.

"You mean that explosion of chakra?" Kisame replied, turning his body to fully face the odd sensation. The feeling of pure, unadulterated chakra that emanated from the south was exhilarating. It almost felt almost as good as sex, but it was a very distant second. "Even Samehada is excited by it." He said, pulling at the sword on his back.

"It's coming from about 7 miles south." Itachi postulated.

"We're closer to it than Konoha is. Should we go check it out?"

Itachi silently nodded, jumping from the road into the heavy forest. Kisame followed closely behind. The closer they came to the disturbance, the more excited both Kisame and Samehada became. Kisame had never felt something so powerful in all of his life. Even for him, with his enormous chakra reserves and abilities, this chakra was something to be envied. The sensation this foreign energy conjured inside of him was orgasmic. It was powerful, ruthless, and utterly intoxicating. Kisame felt as though his blood was boiling with an electrical surge that sent his skull buzzing. He felt like he was swimming in a state of ecstasy from the chakra, and he needed more of it. The single-minded task of finding the source of this power and drinking from it was an desire unlike anything in his life.

As soon as the glorious chakra appeared it was gone. They were only a mile away from their target, but the chakra reading had completely vanished. "Where the hell did it go?" Kisame whined. Instant withdrawal hit him as the residual effects of his intoxication wore off. They doubled their speed for the last mile, stumbling upon a bloody riverbank. The forest should have extended another couple hundred yards, but some form of blast wave had decimated the area surrounding the river.

Three bodies lay next on the water's edge. The two that lay the furthest from the river were barely recognizable as human. Different limbs, organs, and various other body parts lay scattered about the ground, as if the had been attacked by numerous explosive seals. Judging from the smell, there had been no explosives. Only the scent of blood and ionized ozone plagued the riverfront. Bloody gore was splattered along the otherwise peaceful, but destroyed, riverbed. From the pieces of bloody flesh that Itachi could make out, the pair was an odd couple. The one that still had a head, had dark, navy blue hair, but both of their skin was an odd shade. Despite having obvious flesh tones, there was a slight blue-green tint to them when looked at in direct sunlight.

"They're Valley Nin." Kisame stated, kicking a Tanigakure forehead protector at his partner. "What are they doing so far into Fire Country?" He walked over to the third nin before stopping in shock. When they had descended on the bank, he had noticed this girl right off. She was the only one of the three still completely intact, and she was seemingly at the center of the blast zone radius. The first thing he noticed about her were the bandages that were wrapped around her eyes. He didn't understand why, but the wrappings intrigued him almost as much as the chakra signature had. As he came closer to the girl, he realized the hair he had perceived as blacker than Itachi's, was actually a deep imperial purple. Her skin was what made him stop in his tracks; her tan flesh held a blueish glow. The color that radiated from her skin was not unlike his own.

In all of his life, Kisame had never met anyone else with even remotely tinted skin before. He didn't understand why he had been born with such a distinct skin tone and thoroughly believed that no one else could possibly look like him. Kisame had lived his entire life believing that he was alone in the world. But laying in front of him now was a girl that actually looked liked him. No gill-like markings graced her skin as far as he could tell, but the urge to see her teeth possessed him as he bent down and inspected her mouth. Pressing her lips apart, he noted that her teeth were covered in blood, but they were the same sharp, triangular shape as his. Kisame smiled genuinely for the first time in years. Someone, finally, had been like him. _'Too bad she's dead.'_ He thought, looking over the sight of the girl. He noticed that the blue skin only shone when she was in direct sunlight. As he released her mouth, the girl groaned slightly.

"This one is still alive." He called out to Itachi. The Uchiha stood to walk over to his partner who loomed over the downed girl. "What should we do with her?"

"Let Konoha deal with her." Itachi stated. The pair was about to leave the riverbank, when Samehada began wiggling relentlessly. The sword began hungrily chirping and growling, trying to break free of Kisame's back. The man turned his head as Itachi activated his sharingan.

"That chakra came from her." He declared, turning around completely to inspect the young woman. "It's not as powerful now, but that was her charka signature we sensed."

"I say we take her with us. Whatever that chakra is, Pein could put it to good use. Plus, if she caused all of this destruction, I'd feel safer knowing our enemies don't have her."

"Fine." Itachi agreed. Kisame picked the unconscious girl up, throwing her over his shoulder. Samehada cooed, rubbing itself against the woman's cheek. The girl was a foot shorter than him, and about half his size. Carrying her was going to be a piece of cake compared to some of the people Leader had sent them after. With her in tow, at least they would not be returning to base completely empty-handed.


	2. Chapter 2

_'I'm floating.'_ Shiryoku thought as she began to regain consciousness. Her head was gently lolling from side to side as she glided through the air. As her brain grew steadily less foggy, Shiryoku became aware of a pressure on her stomach. There was something solid beneath her, and her inner ear told her that her head was hanging upside down. _'No. Not floating. I'm being carried.'_ Shiryoku's hands were bound behind her back, but she couldn't tell if her ankles had been tied as well.

She attempted to stay as still as possible, trying to figure out her surroundings. From the humidity of the world around her, she was still somewhere in the Land of Fire, but the smells that filled her nose did not match the green countryside. She could smell the ocean. There was a slight hint of fish amongst the salty sea foam that curled inside of her nose. It reminded her of her home along the ocean side, before she had been forced inland to live with her father in River Country.

It had been fifteen years since she had seen the sea. Yet this smell instantly took her back to a time when she would watch the sunrise every morning. The golden, red, and orange hues that threw the world into light reflected across the blue waters surrounding her home were her was her favorite scenes of her long gone childhood. Once the sun was up and Shiryoku would spend her entire day out on the ocean. Her mother would joke that if she hadn't known better, she would have sworn Shiryoku was an fish. She had always found this humorous, but after moving inland, jokes quickly became distant memories. The young woman focused her mind around her sense of hearing- cursing herself for dredging up memories that meant nothing anymore. Other than the birds and cicadas, there wasn't much to her to hear.

Two distinct footfalls slowly came into her periphery. The one who was carrying her was large, well over six foot tall. From the crunch of the gravel under his feet, she had to guess he was somewhere close to 180 pounds. The feel of the shoulder she had been hoisted over, Shiryoku would bet that the majority of his weight was muscle. The second of captors was smaller and lighter than the one holding Shiryoku. This one was a little over 5'5", maybe 120 pounds. Judging from their sizes, they definitely weren't her siblings. The twins were both somewhere around 5'9", 135 pounds. Other than her siblings heights and weights, she knew nothing of what they looked like. Shiryoku hadn't met either of the twins until after her eyesight was taken from her.

But if the people carrying her weren't her brother and sister, who were these people? They were cloaking their chakra, Shiryoku couldn't get a read on if they were her clansmen or not. _'How did they get me away from the twins?'_ She asked herself. _'What happened?'_

A leather bound rod rubbed against her face, pulling her attention away from the sounds around her. Strangely, the rod seemed to soften at her touch, and wrap around her chin. She tried not to react to the sudden appearance of the object. Shiryoku needed them to think she was still unconscious. The longer she had to figure out her captors, the more information she could gather about them and the easier it would be to escape. Shiryoku could hear a strange purr that came from somewhere on her captor's back.

"She's waking up." The man who held her spoke. The pair turned so that they were no longer walking along the road. Shiryoku heard the soft rustle of grass and leaves shift under her captors feet. The man threw Shiryoku to the ground. She landed hard, falling backwards into a log.

"What's your name?" A different male asked. He was the smaller of the two who had taken her.

_'They don't know my name… Means they aren't clansmen.'_ Hotaru inferred. _'Then who the hell are they?'_

When she did not answer, Shiryoku felt a sharp jab in her side. One of them had kicked her ribs. Judging by the size of the shoe that had made contact with her, it was the big one that had done it.

"Talk." The large male demanded. The calmness in his voice made Shiryoku nervous. This was a man who took pleasure in creating pain. Shiryoku remained silent.

"Tell us your name." The small man spoke again.

"I think she needs a little persuasion." The large one spoke, taking a step toward the girl.

"Kisame. We don't know what set that explosion off. Be careful around her."

_'Explosion?'_

"What was that chakra surge you gave off?" Kisame asked. His voice changed from a measured calm to genuine interest. It was an almost imperceivable change, but Shiryoku picked up on it. She let a smirk escape her. It all made sense now.

_'So, that's what they're after.'_ The explosion caused by the release of her Kekkei Genkai was what brought their attention to her. Her siblings must have gotten caught in the blast wave and these two stumbled upon the scene.

"If you won't cooperate, we will leave you here in the woods. I'm sure you can fend for yourself?" Kisame asked with a nasty smirk as he tugged on the bandages covering her eyes. Shiryoku snapped her jaw, trying to catch his hand. He laughed as he pulled his hand away. "Oh, I like her." Shiryoku turned her head toward the man. If there was one thing she did not tolerate in this world, it was people trying to use her blindness against her. As she looked in the man's direction, hoping she appeared to be glaring at him, the strange purring noise started up again. "Stop it." Kisame scolded Samehada, tugging at the greedy sword.

Shiryoku swept her legs out from under her. She kept them low to the ground as they sailed toward the large man. Based on how tall she believed him to be, Shiryoku let her legs drift about four inches from the forest floor. The kick connected seamlessly with the man's ankles, sending him plummeting to the ground. She was surprised by how thick his ankles were despite being one of the weaker points on his body. Ignoring the mild pain in her shin from hitting the solid man, Shiryoku raised her leg in the air, preparing her heel to land just south of his tenth rib, her true goal being a direct hit to one of his kidneys. As her downward striking heel was gaining momentum, it suddenly stopped. Itachi threw her leg back at her. Shiryoku's knee collided with her chin. Shiryoku sat in a state of shock. The only ones who had ever been able to stop her attacks were her two older siblings. This was mainly because they were the ones who had taught her how to fight, but a small portion was owed to the fact the no one ever expected the sightless girl to fight back.

"Let's go. If we leave now, we'll get back to base before dark."

"Fine." Shiryoku was lifted to her feet by the big one, and guided back to the road. He roughly pushed her in the right direction, forcing her to walk. Itachi strode in front of her while Kisame took the rear.

"Why didn't you stop her before she took my legs out?" Kisame asked after a couple moments of strained silence.

"I didn't see her move until you were already down." Itachi admitted. Shiryoku could not tell if Itachi was impressed by her swift movements or angered by his admission.

"You're telling me this kid got the drop on you?" Kisame laughed. "Your brother is one of the quickest kids I've ever seen, and you still managed to stop him back at that inn. How can she be faster than an Uchiha?"

_'Uchiha?'_ Shiryoku's mind flashed red at the infamous name. Just how dangerous her situation was finally dawned on the runaway. If she was in the company of a man who slaughtered the arguably most powerful clan in the history of the shinobi world, her little tricks and Kekkei Genkai would hold no defense against the Uchiha. And whoever the large man behind her was had to be equally as dangerous as the man before her. Shiryoku realized the easiest way to stay alive would be to comply with whatever the two men asked of her, no matter what they were planning to do with her. If they eventually gave up custody of her, she would be able to fight her way out of that situation.

Itachi did not reply to Kisame's questions. He walked quietly ahead of the other two, keeping whatever he was thinking about Shiryoku's speed to himself. The trio remained silent as the miles passed them by.

Frequently the young woman would start to veer off course, falling out of line with the two missing nin. Kisame would catch her by the shoulder and push her back in between himself and Itachi. He doubted she meant to leave their formation on purpose, instead thoroughly believed she lacked the ability to walk in a straight line. It may have something to do with her inability to see, or that her leg seemed to still be reeling from the kick she took him down with. She hadn't made a smart move to take him down with physical force. He was much more solidly built than the girl, than most anyone really. Kisame had a feeling that at least one of her bones was fractured. And from the way she was lightly favoring her left leg, he guessed it would be on the lower section of her fibula.

Shiryoku was trying to figure out where they were and which direction they were heading, when the scent hit her. The fragrance of water and shale drifted into her nose. The smell was of her home country, Land of Rivers. The plethora of water that spawned endless crags and valleys was the most unmistakable aroma she would ever know. She had loved her country as a child, but now it was a terrifying place. Her home was an unforgiving land of never ending waterfalls and canyons. And she could not return, because the closer they came to the country, the easier it would be for her family to find her. The dreadful thought of her clan finding her glued Shiryoku's feet to the ground, stopping her until she could work up the courage to run away. Kisame had not been paying attention, and continued to walk right into the girl's back.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, seemingly enraged by the girl's unexpected stop. She tried to back away from the border, but the wall of a man behind her didn't allow her to retreat. "Keep moving." Kisame nudged her forward. She lost her balance, and fell ungracefully to the ground. Shiryoku tried to turn her body so that her shoulder would take the brunt of the fall, but misjudged the distance to the ground. Her skull hit the gravel road with the crack of bone hitting rock. The impact knocked her unconscious, as a small pool of blood began to puddle around her ear. "This girl bleeds too easy -"

"Kisame." Itachi whispered, looking off into the distance. His sharingan was active as he scanned the area. "There are nine people waiting just inside the border. They all have chakra signatures similar to hers."

"What do you want to do?" Kisame responded, bending down next to the bleeding girl to examine her head. A low growl was issued from Samehada as Kisame's stomach tied itself into a knot. An interesting scent wafted from the blood that was easily hidden behind the iron of her blood. The odor was somewhat akin to the mist that had shrouded his old village; elements of dust speckled about in the ionized ozone of an oncoming rain that refused to break.

He lifted her head to reveal a long gash ran from her left temple to the middle of her forehead. He removed a bandage from within his cloak pouring water from his canteen on it before lightly dabbing away the sticky ichor from the girl's wound. Kisame ripped off a clean section of the bandage before wrapping it tightly around her forehead. He thought momentarily about replacing the gauze around her eyes, but it had almost no blood on it and he didn't want to use up all of his dressings. "Samehada may like the snack." Kisame joked, throwing the girl's arm around his neck to carry her bridal style. He didn't want throw her over his shoulder. Blood might rush to her head, forcing the wound to stay open longer than it needed to.

"We should find a way around. If they have the same chakra as her, they could be capable of the same destruction. It would be better not to engage them."

"If we backtrack into Fire, there's a path about 20 miles south that is hidden by a couple mountain valleys and ridges. It'll will take us south of the base, but we can walk the river north." Kisame suggested, trying to shifting the girl in his arms to a more comfortable position.

Itachi nodded, deciding this plan was their best course of action. "Since when do you treat other's wounds?" He asked, walking shoulder to shoulder with the shark.

"Couldn't let her bleed out if we're taking her to Leader." Kisame partially lied. The wound on her head would not have killed her, but he needed to dress it the moment he caught a whiff of her blood. The same sensation he had felt when Kisame sensed her chakra overcame him when he smelled the blood. It wasn't nearly as potent as her chakra, but Kisame could feel the desire to gorge himself on her slowly build. If he left the wound undressed, he knew his intoxication would grow until he would no longer be able to concentrate on the upcoming terrain of the River Country. One false step along the slippery, treacherous ridges would send both him and the girl plummeting to their deaths.

Itachi and Kisame turned their backs on the border with the Land of Rivers to retreat into Fire country and find their way around the people who waited for them. Itachi wasn't sure if this plan would work. But, he would much rather deal with the hidden path than engage in a battle with nine people who could potentially do as much damage as Deidara's bombs.


	3. Chapter 3

"The fuck is this?" Hidan asked as soon as Kisame and Itachi walked into the cavernous base.

"It's a girl." Kisame snidely replied.

"Good to know you two fuck-ups can catch an unconscious piece of ass, instead of doing damned your job."

"Shut up." Kisame dropped Shiryoku in front of Pein. The orange haired man stared down at the girl laying at his feet. His purple eyes conveyed no emotion as he stared at the unmoving girl.

"What is the meaning of this?" His deep voice asked, focusing his attention on Itachi.

"We discovered her on our return from our mission -"

"Which you failed." Hidan reminded them.

"How many Jinchuuriki have you caught?" Kisame snapped at the Jashinist. Of all the Akatsuki members, Hidan was the one Kisame could stand the least. He was vulgar for vulgarity's sake, and his religion drove the shark up the wall. He could understand a love of violence, but the idea of the strict and ritualistic murders Hidan had to complete in order to serve his religion was a turn off to Kisame. He much preferred the animalistic way he handled violence; it was unpredictable and primal. Kisame followed his instincts when it came to fighting and killing, which was easier and infinitely more fun than following any set of rules.

"Stop." Pein commanded the two. "Itachi, continue."

"Kisame and I sensed a strange chakra that hit us. When we came upon the blast sight, there was a blast radius of about 500 yards, and two Valley Shinobi had been decimated - they were completely blown apart. She was at the center of the sight."

"She's the one responsible for the explosion, hm?" Deidara asked, intrigued by the possible bomb that had gone off because of this girl.

"Her chakra signature matches the one we sensed during the explosion." Kisame stated.

"How did you get her to come with you, hm?" The blond man asked, kneeling next to the girl. Deidara looked curiously up that the Uchiha. As someone who had in essence been forced into joining Akatsuki by Itachi's Sharingan, he was wary of the man's tactics. He curiously prodded the young woman.

"She was unconscious when we found her. Woke up for a while, but fell and knocked herself out again." The shark responded for Itachi.

"She fell? Is she fucking blind?" Hidan scoffed, despite his interest in how she had torn apart the two ninjas.

"Look at her eyes." Itachi ordered Deidara. He did as he was told and carefully removed the fabric that covered her eyes. The skin surrounding her eyes and the bridge of her nose were covered in thick scar material. The scars that stretched across the majority of her face were a strange pale blue-grey color instead of the pale flesh that should have matched her skin. The raised skin of her scars gave way harshly thick eyelids that heavily cloaked her eyes. The rims of her eyelids appeared to be coated in some form of dried mucus. Deidara carefully pulled the eyelids apart to reveal eyeballs that were covered in thick, white membrane. The filmy substance gave the already scarred eyes a terrifying look. Despite the scars being obviously old, the girl's appearance was gruesome.

"What could have done this, hm?" Deidara asked looking up at Itachi and Kisame.

"Somebody set her face on fire." Kisame answered, grimly looking down on the girl.

"She looks like you, Kisa-senpai!" Tobi excitedly jumped forward, poking at the unconscious girl.

"It seems that when you view her, and the two shinobi she killed, in direct sunlight, their skin takes on blue tones. Her's matches Kisame's skin tone, but the other two had more of a green tint." Itachi stated. He stood emotionless looking down at the masked man.

"Were you able to get any information from her?" Pein asked.

"She didn't say anything." Itachi responded coldly. "What should we do with her?"

"If she can create a blast like the one we came across, Akatsuki could use her." Kisame added.

"If she can produce explosions, I can train her to control that chakra, hm." Deidara offered.

"How the hell can we possibly use a damned blind girl? I mean, fuck. The bitch can't even walk without knocking herself out." Hidan howled.

"I agree with Hidan." Kakuzu stated. "Keeping her could become an unnecessary risk."

"Shut up, Zombie Twins." Kisame shot at the two immortals.

"Tobi thinks she should stay!"

"We'll make her talk once she wakes up. If she proves to be useful, then we will induct her into Akatsuki." Pein stated before turning to retreat further into the base.

"Also," Kisame added, "There appears to be Tanigakure Nin looking for her. They were waiting along the border at one location. According to Itachi, the ones we almost came into contact with had the same chakra signatures as her, probably her family. Are there any powerful clans in the area?"

"There is the Kawamoto Family." Pein replied. "Not much is known about them despite being the most powerful family in Tanigakure."

* * *

As Shiryoku came to, she realized she was laying on something soft. She had been slightly surprised that the rope that bound her wrists was gone, but she didn't much care. Her hand explored the cushion on which she lay. It was surprisingly supple and comfortable.  
_'A bed?'_ She thought, stretching her arms out finding a large mattress underneath her. She sat up as she reached to find the edge of the bed. Once she had, Shiryoku gently swung her legs over the side to find a stone floor coldly kissing her bare feet. She recoiled from the sudden frigid feeling, but put her foot back almost immediately, shoving herself off of her bed.

Shiryoku raised her arms in front of her, splaying them out in an attempt to feel for the wall. She took five steps forward when her knee connected with something solid, causing a loud clatter as items fell to the ground. Her hands fell down to the object to feel a long, flat wooden surface. _'Desk.'_ Her mind informed her. _'The wall should be near by.'_ Shiryoku leaned forward the feel for the wall that would hopefully lead her to the door. The moment she leaned toward the wall, her head hit a low hanging shelf.

Her head was already killing her, but adding the collision with the shelf made her want to vomit. A headache unlike any she had ever felt throbbed just behind her left eye. Her hand slowly made its way up to her forehead. Her fingers gingerly danced across the gauze on her head. She remembered the Large One of her captors - _'Kisame was his name, right?'_ - had pushed her forward, causing her to loose balance and fall. She must have hit her head hard enough to knock herself unconscious. Shiryoku's pinky finger swept across the bridge of her nose. A small bandage was supposed to cover the scarred skin, but it wasn't there. Both hands were instantly at her eyes, cautiously feeling the exposed skin.

"No…" She whispered inaudibly, as her fingers probed the marred skin. Just as she was on the verge of panic, Shiryoku heard the door open. It was maybe ten paces to her right.

"You're awake." A female voice that she did not recognize spoke. "My name is Konan." The woman took a couple steps into the room. As she did, two other presences followed her in. From their smells, one was Kisame, the other one she did not know.

"Where are my bandages?" Shiryoku asked as she turned to face the people. She kept her eyes covered, so that no one could not see her.

"I've come to tend to your eyes. They appeared to be infected when we looked them over earlier. If you would let me help -"

"Are you taking me home?" The blind woman asked, slowly removing her hands from her eyes.

"That depends on you. Do you wish to go home?"

"No."

"Let me clean your eyes for you." Konan walked toward Shiryoku, gently guiding her to the bed and sitting her down. "This may sting a little." She added as Shiryoku listened to the woman pull a cloth from a bowl. Water gently cascaded into the bowl as she wrung out the cloth. Shiryoku hissed from the dull irritating feeling that accompanied the cloth's touch. But Konan continued to wipe at her eyes. "How long have you been like this?"

"Fourteen years."

"May I ask who did this to you?" Shiryoku did not answer the woman's request. Deciding not to push the subject, Konan asked another question. "Do you know of the group called Akatsuki?"

"A mercenary group of S-rank nin."

"Would you like to join?"

"I don't know what I have to offer. I was never allowed to become a kunoichi, because -" Shiryoku gestured toward her eyes.

"The men who found you said they sensed a blast of chakra accompanied by an explosion that you created. How did you do that?"

"It was the activation of my family's Kekkei Genkai."

"What is your Kekkei Genkai?"

"It's an ocular power that can manipulate the environment around us. It appears as genjutsu to a victim, but it is reality. Anything that they see, hear, or is done to them is real. No matter how fantastical, if we want it to happen, it will happen."

"If you can't see, how can you -"

"I shouldn't have been able to activate it. But because I did, I don't know how it will manifest."

"How was it activated?"

"The only way to release the power is to ingest the flesh of your sibling."

"So the two bodies that were found with you, were...?"

"My brother and sister. They followed me to the Land of Fire to take me back to Tanigakure. I accidentally swallowed some of my brother's blood when I bit him while trying to escape… What color is my skin?" Shiryoku raised her head, her dead eyes gazed behind Konan. Even though Kisame knew she had no sight, he felt as though the girl was staring at him.

The question took Konan a minute to process. "It's blue."

"What kind of blue?"

"Light blue, with a slight grey tint. But it's only visible in direct sunlight." Kisame spoke from behind Konan.

"And my brother and sister? What color skin did they have?"

"It was more green than blue. Why does it matter?" Kisame responded, taking a step closer to the young woman. He was interested to see her response. The color of her skin had also intrigued the large man, and he wanted to know more of why she was shaded the way she was.

"Everyone always said they could tell I was a bastard child, because my skin was a different color." Konan carefully pulled the girl's chin down so that she could continue wiping the watery solution across her eyes.

"What is your name?" Kisame asked. Shiryoku gently swept Konan's hand away from her and stood up. She took a couple steps towards the large man. Her outstretched arm gently collided with his abdomen. Shiryoku had figured the man would be muscular, but she never imagined him being so solidly built. She gently pushed her palm against him, trying to gauge how thick his torso was. His stomach tightened under her, flexing his abs for her.

"Shiryoku." She answered honestly. "You are Kisame." Shiryoku held her hand out to feel his face. She gently traced her fingers along every contour of his his profile, stopping for a moment to get a feel for the gill markings on his cheeks. He had a large head, with a solid nose, thin yet supple lips, and a surprisingly thick jawline. A forehead protector covered the majority of his upper head. Shiryoku gently traced the four slanted shapes of the Kirigakure symbol, a solid line ran the length of the metal plate cutting through the symbol. His hair was thick and corse and had been shaped into a slight faux-hawk. Despite how large he felt under her fingers, there was a subtly angular element to his features. Her palm rested on his cheek for a moment before slapping him. She hadn't hit him hard enough to even move his head, but a purple hand print began to grow across his cheek. "That's for knocking me unconscious." She tried to slap him again, but his large hand caught her wrist.

"Don't do that." He cautioned her before throwing her her hand away.

"Don't think you can push me around because I am blind." She countered, pushing against his stomach. She sent a small burst of chakra through her palm, knocking the large man backwards against the desk. He managed to catch himself before flying further into the wall. Kisame stared at the girl in shock at the power behind a mere nudge from her. He could feel a residual tingling on his stomach from the small trace of chakra she had pushed him with. It felt different from the chakra he had felt earlier that morning. This was not the pure sensation that had given him a high, but rather fueled him with a sense of impotent rage. The feeling quickly dissipated, as he stood to strike back against the girl.

"Enough." A dark, rich voice spoke from the doorway. "She will stay here for now. Once we understand how her Kekkei Genkai has manifested, if we can use it, I will make a final decision. Kisame, you and Itachi will be in charge of keeping her inside the base."


	4. Chapter 4

Kisame propped himself against the desk as Pein left Shiryoku's room. Her blind eyes were staring fixedly at the large man, despite not seeing him. Konan stood to guide the young woman back to the bed. Shiryoku willingly complied, letting the kunoichi continue to treat her eyes.

"How old are you?" Kisame asked, stepping forward to get a closer look at Konan's work. She delicately wiped at the dried substance covering the rims of her eyes.

"Twenty." Shiryoku answered, careful not to move too much. Whatever it was that Konan was rubbing her eyelids with stung on her skin alone, she did not want to know how it would feel to get the substance in her eyes. _'Not that it would really matter…'_

As Konan finished her work, she pulled a metal tin from within her cloak and placed it in Shiryoku's hand. "Take one of these twice a day. It should help stop that discharge from building up again. We will have to clean your eyes multiple times a day until the infection goes away." The purple-haired woman took a set of clean bandages from beside the wash basin, and gently wrapped them around Shiryoku's head.

"Thank you." Shiryoku palmed the tin, opening it to inspect the size of the pills it held. Konan walked out of the room, leaving Kisame and Shiryoku alone.

"My skin is blue." He said moving back to the desk once Konan was gone. "About the same color as yours, except people can see no matter if I'm in the sun or not. I've never met anyone else with blue skin before." Kisame told the girl. "People feared me because of the way I look: blue skin, sharp teeth, gill marks on my face, extremely tall, heavily built… My name didn't help much either. What kind of cruel joke is it to name a kid who looks like a shark, 'Demon Shark'?" Shiryoku smirked at the question.

"My name literally means Sight." Shiryoku said deadpan as she pointed to the bandages on her face. "If anyone understands cruel jokes, it's me."

Kisame chuckled briefly before asking, "You're from Tani, right?" Shiryoku nodded her head as she popped one of the pills into her mouth, swallowing it without water. "Are you from the Kawamoto family?" Another nod. "But you're illegitimate?"

"My mother was a Kirigakure kunoichi. She and my father met while she was on an undercover in Tani, and abandoned the mission when she found out she was pregnant. But, she didn't want me growing up in Kiri, so she raised me on Water Country's coast - hiding from Hunter Nins. When I was five, my father found out about me, and forced my mom and I to come back to Tanigakure. That's where I was raised."

"And your eyes?"

"I was six when my sister had decided she didn't like the way my skin looked. I had never actually met her or my brother before that, though. She was only able to set part of my face on fire before my brother made her stop. They both had a bit of a sadistic streak, but Eiji knew when to stop… Why am I talking to you? You kidnapped me."

"I think it's the blue skin. Kindred flesh tones." Kisame looked down at his hands, glaring at the blue flesh that had made him feel like an pariah in his village. "And if we hadn't taken you, who knows what kind of devils would have found you." He formed his mouth into a crooked smirked, baring his razor-sharp teeth as he looked up to see Shiryoku smiling back at him. Her identical carnivorous teeth shining against her flesh.

"Aw, isn't this fucking adorable?" Hidan spat from the doorway. "The sharks are bonding."

"Who are you?" Shiryoku asked, turning her head toward the voice. It was surprisingly silky, despite the mocking tone.

"Who the fuck are you?" He responded.

"Shiryoku." Her response was met with a howl of laughter.

"Oh, that's too damned rich! That's too fucking funny!"

"Hidan." Kisame warned the silver-haired man to watch what he said.

"She's blind, you dumbass, how can you not find that funny!?" Kisame pushed himself off of the desk to force Hidan out of the room. Before he could get to Hidan, the Jashinist fell backwards into the hallway before the door slammed shut with his foot still in the way. The bang of the door was accompanied by a loud crunch of bone being broken. Hidan let out a screech and pounded on the door, trying to loosen his foot from it's hold. The door opened just enough to free his foot before shutting closed again.

Kisame stood perfectly still as he watched the door move of it's own accord. A huge burst of chakra emanated from the girl as she sat on the bed. It was the same rapturous signature that had Kisame drowning yesterday. But this was in a much more concentrated form. Instead of the wide spreading, intoxicating feeling that had slowly grown inside of him, the effects were almost instantaneous.

His head felt too heavy for his neck to support; it fell backwards as he let the feeling of ecstasy wash over him. Heavy eyelids drooped closed as the smell of Kiri mist reached his nose. He breathed deep, savoring the smell of his home. In the years since he had left Kirigakure, Kisame had never actually missed the village. Too many lies, too much deceit in that damn, damp village. But this smell, the mist he had not been shrouded in for years, made his stomach ache for home. He let out a small moan as he stopped breathing, allowing his heart rate to slow, depriving his brain of oxygen. Kisame became light-headed as a sense of euphoria overtook his mind. White electrical pulses went off in his brain, begging him to begin breathing again. But the high he felt was too addicting to let it go.

All at once, the sensations were gone. His lungs forced him to breathe again, pulling his mind back to reality. "How did you do that?" Kisame turned to looked at the girl sitting on the large bed. Shiryoku's head wobbled back and forth before she slumped off of the bed. Kisame quickly caught her head before she hit it again. He was surprised her fall from the day before hadn't given her a concussion, but if she were to hit her head on this stone floor of the base, she most definitely would have become concussed. Kisame lifted her up to set her on her bed. The girl's breathing was shallow and erratic, but shortly regulated itself as the effects of whatever she had done began to wear off.

Someone began pounding on the door, trying to force it open. "Unlock the door!" Deidara yelled as he jiggled the doorknob. Kisame did as the younger Akatsuki member asked and let the boy in. "What the hell was that?" He asked, barging into the room.

"That was the chakra blast we told you about." Kisame responded watching the blond kneel over the unconscious girl.

"It was beautiful…" He sighed, running his hand through her onyx-purple hair. "A masterpiece, hm."

"Quit fondling the girl." Kisame scolded the boy, pulling him away from Shiryoku.

"How did she do it, hm?" Deidara asked as Kisame dragged him from the bed.

"Don't know." Kisame lied. He had a feeling that it had something to do with how her Kekkei Genkai was manifesting itself within the blind girl. She had said that her family could manipulate their environment to make any thought a reality through the use of their eyes. But without her eyes, Shiryoku would need a strong burst of chakra to turn her ability into a reality, the residual effects of which would feel like a blast wave.

"I have to train her. That explosion was true art, hm!"

"That explosion knocked her out. Let her wake up and make that decision on her own." Kisame rested his large body back against the desk to watch the girl. When he and Itachi had found her, she had been unconscious for majority of the day. But this was different from yesterday. This chakra burst was much more intense and Kisame wanted to find out what her reaction to it would be.


	5. Chapter 5

"That power, Hm!" Deidara hadn't stopped prattling on about Shiryoku's chakra for hours. "Art is a blast!" He slammed his fists against the table. He had absolutely loved the fleeting feeling Shiryoku's blast wave had given off. It was everything he had ever wanted to see in a masterpiece

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to break your jaw." Kisame warned the blond as he sat down to eat some food.

"Didn't you sense that power though?" Deidara looked to the blue man.

"What do you mean?" Kisame asked. He didn't know whether or not Deidara was asking about the fleeting sense of her chakra, or if he had felt the same side effects as Kisame.

"Her explosive power was gone within seconds, hm!"

"Did you even feel the explosion?" Kisame scoffed. The blond man stared at him as Kisame tore into grilled salmon. "Being in that blast radius was like the best high you can ever imagine. It was like… That feeling you get when you dive into the deep end of a pool, but go too deep, and are desperately trying to breach the surface before your lungs collapse. The fear of the burn of water in your lungs from drowning to be instantly replaced by the relief of air finally coming back to you."

"I… I didn't feel that." Deidara admitted, keeping his focus on the fish Kisame was devouring. He seemed disappointed by his admission, as though he wished he could have felt the sensations Kisame had described. "There was just a blast of chakra that washed over me. It was an explosion that I could never create, hm."

"Maybe it was because I was only a few feet from her." Kisame suggested after having ruined the perceived masterpiece Deidara had felt.

* * *

It had taken Shiryoku an entire day to wake up from the blast wave that both Kisame and Deidara had experienced. When she had finally woken up, Shiryoku carefully left her room to start walking the base. She slowly paced her way down a hallway, counting steps as she went.

Itachi was laying on his bed, resting his tired eyes as he heard a muffled shuffling walk passed his open door. He looked up to see the girl walk by with outstretched arms, mumbling to herself. He sat up to watch her stop in front of his room. Her hands curiously felt the doorframe before she said, 'Bedroom." She backed away to continue her journey through the hallway. Itachi walked to his doorway to see her come upon the end of the hallway.

"45… 46… 47… Dead end." She muttered, feeling her way along the wall to turn herself around completely. Itachi watched her make her way back down the hall talking to herself again. He silently stalked behind her, surprisingly curious to figure out where it was she was trying to go.

"1… 2… 3…" She began counting, as she slightly shuffled foreword with her arms braced in front of her. Itachi noticed she had a bit of the predilection to veer to the right. Her hand would find the wall not too soon after swerving, allowing her to correct course and return to the center of the hallway. After she reached 47, Shiryoku and Itachi were back at her bedroom. Her count rolled over, beginning back at one after checking that she had made it back to her room.

As she slowly worked her way down the hallway, Hidan rounded a corner. His broken foot had healed almost as soon as he had gotten out of the door, but he was angered beyond measure at the fact that he had been injured. Hidan enjoyed the feeling of self-inflicted pain, but he could not allow what had happened with the door pass.

"Freak!" He yelled at Shiryoku forcing her to stop her counting game. He didn't seem to notice Itachi standing a couple feet behind the blind woman. "The fuck did you do to me, you little bitch?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said defiantly, trying to push past the silver-haired man. He grabbed Shiryoku roughly by the shoulders, slamming her against the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. Hidan locked his forearm against her throat under her chin, disallowing her from catching her breath. She tried to kick him, but he pressed his entire body against her, pinning her between himself and the wall.

"Don't fuck with me. How the hell did you break my foot?" Shiryoku gagged as she desperately tried to catch her breath. Clawing at his arm, Shiryoku tried to pry him off of her, but he only pressed down harder on her throat for her efforts. White specs floated across her periphery as her lungs turned into a vacuum.

"Hidan. Enough." Itachi spoke as he took a step toward the pair.

"Shove it up you ass, Uchiha." Itachi stepped into Hidan's field of vision, his Mangekyo Sharingan activated.

"Enough." He pulled the Jashinist's arm from Shiryoku's throat, giving her the precious breath she so badly needed. Hidan stepped away from the girl, letting her body drop to the floor.

"Fuck…" Hidan whispered before kicking the girl at his feet. He walked away mumbling to himself as he stalked down the hallway. Shiryoku sat on her palms, coughing and gasping as oxygen finally came back into her body.

"Don't let him get any of your blood." Itachi warned looking down at Shiryoku as his eyes turned black. She pushed herself to her feet, trying to find her bearings in the cold hallway. "It'll be your death if you do."

"Can you help me back to my room? I lost count." Shiryoku turned in Itachi's direction. Her voice was slightly rasped from Hidan's choke hold. She was trying to ignore what had happened with Hidan. Itachi's eyes squinted at the girl, trying to puzzle out why she was determined to let what had happened pass by without retribution. He knew she was fast and powerful, the woman had taken Kisame down before Itachi could catch her. Why let Hidan get away with choking her?

"Count of what?" Itachi asked.

"How many steps it takes to get places. It's how I map out a location."

"Fourteen paces straight ahead, two to the right." Itachi stated as he turned Shiryoku in the right direction.

"Thank you." She said as she walked away, immediately careening to the right. Itachi stood against the wall as he watched her stop at her door, then turn to recount her steps. At fourteen, she passed by him. She slowly made her way to the intersection in the hallway, feeling the corner for an opening, turned left and continued walking. As soon as she was out of sight, Kisame came from the right side hallway. He stood in the middle of the intersection, drying his hair with a towel, as he watched the Kawamoto girl count her steps in the hallway. He looked quizzically over to Itachi.

"She's mapping out the base." He replied to his partner's silent question. "Hidan's going to cause a lot of trouble for her."

"Hidan causes trouble for everyone." Kisame retorted. "Does she know that hallway goes nowhere?" He pointed towards Shiryoku's direction.

"Doesn't seem to bother her. She just wants to get a feel for the place."

"Dank, gloomy, and cold, that's all there is to this place. The only redeeming factor of this damn base is the underground lake we have in the caves." Kisame responded stepping out of the intersection to watch Shiryoku pass him by.

"28… 29… Intersection… 1… 2… 3…" She counted to herself as she ignored the two Akatsuki, and walked in the direction from which Kisame came. He turned to watch her continue counting her paces.

"Do you need someone to show you around?" Kisame asked as she slowly veered to the wall. Shiryoku waved him away as she continued to mutter to herself. She hit the corner of the hallway and turned. As she did, an orange mask popped out of a doorway. Kisame heard Tobi giggle playfully as he pranced behind Shiryoku. Kisame decided to follow the two to see what Tobi was planning. The masked man slowly made his way closer to the girl, and began to reach out for the bandages that covered her eyes. Just as he was about to pull on the dressings, Kisame caught his hand.

"Don't."

"Kisa-senpai!" Tobi yelled, recoiling and pulling his hand from Kisame's large fist. "Tobi wanted to feel Shiryo-chan's hair! Pretty hair!" Shiryoku continued to walk further into the base, muttering to herself and ignoring the people who stood behind her. Kisame tugged on a tuft of Tobi's hair; Tobi screeched trying to push Kisame's hand off of him.

"You touch her bandages, I'll break your mask." Kisame warned him throwing Tobi's head out of his hands. The masked man jumped away from Kisame, chuckling nervously before bouncing off from whence he came.


	6. Chapter 6

"Pein requests your presence." Kakuzu stated from Shiryoku's doorway. Konan was sitting on her knees wiping a cloth across the young woman's eyes.

"I'll be there momentarily." Konan replied as she set down the cloth and pick up a clean bandage. She began carefully wrapping Shiryoku's head. "The infection looks to be clearing up." She quietly told Shiryoku.

"Not you. The girl."

"What does Pein want with me?" She asked as Konan tied off the wrappings and pulled her from the bed. Shiryouku walked toward the wall of a man. He wasn't as large as Kisame, but the presence he commanded in a room gave him the feeling of an oppressive waterfall. The smell that oozed from Kakuzu disgusted Shiryoku. He reeked of decay and swamp sludge. Malevolent death seeped from every pore of the man, filling Shiryoku with despair when he was near. The smell of him embedded itself in her nose, confusing her senses and making her feel oddly unclean.

"Didn't ask." Kakuzu turned from the room and walked away. Konan followed him, carefully guiding Shiryoku by the arm. Once outside of the areas of the base she knew, Shiryoku left Konan's arm to figure the place out for herself. Shiryoku could hear Kakuzu's footsteps and was able to follow him. She tried counting her footsteps as they worked their way deeper into the cavernous space, but lost count after awhile. Kakuzu ushered the girl into a large room before shutting the door. Konan left Shiryoku's side to stand amongst the other Akatsuki members. Shiryoku could smell the distinct scents of 9 different people standing randomly throughout the room. Members of Akatsuki formed a large circle around the perimeter of the room.

The scent closest to her was Deidara, Kisame was somewhere on the far side of the room, and in the center stood Pein; the one area of the room devoid of any scents. The woman had noticed that Pein had a tendency to loose any trace of personal scent. Shiryoku did not understand how the leader of the group seemed to loose his smell. She had never come across anyone who was able to completely remove their scent. Shinobi could hide their smells, but they could never truly eliminate every trace of the natural fragrance their body created.

"Do you know how to fight?" Pein asked as Kakuzu took his place next to Kisame.

"A little. My brother taught me how to defend myself against my sister." Shiryoku replied, walking to meet Pein at the center of the room.

"Show us."

"Sorry?"

"Show us how well you can fight." Pein said stepping back into the circle of Akatsuki members.

"I don't understand…" Shiryoku turned around the circle. Panic started growing inside of her stomach. None of the ten shinobi that surrounded her said anything. She heard someone move from their position in the circle. Shiryoku turned in the direction of her would-be assailant and sniffed the air for their scent.

The mass gathering of all ten members created a confused smell in the room, making it almost impossible for Shiryoku to pick out who had stepped forward to attack her. From the sound of his feet hitting on the cave floor, he was one of the smaller members; either Deidara or Itachi. Kisame had told her of Deidara's explosive chakra, and his slight weakness in hand-to-hand combat. If she kept close to him, she stood a chance of protecting herself. But if it was the Uchiha who stepped forward, Shiryoku knew she did not hold a snowball's chance in hell of protecting herself.

Shiryoku raised her fists to protect her head from attack, keeping her opponent in front of her. The two skirted one another, waiting for the other to make a move. The sound of Shiryoku's breathing filled her ears as she bided her time. She did not want to be the one to make the first move.

The scratch of sandal shifting on the cave floor came to her ears as her opponent threw his leg through the air. Shiryoku lowered her left arm to deflect her opponent's attack. Using the momentum from the downward swing of her arm, Shiryoku swung her right leg, aiming for her assailant's torso. At the second she heard him shift his weight to stop her kick, Shiryoku dropped her leg just enough to evade his hands, yet still land her attack on his hip. Her calf hit hard on the crest of his hip. He managed to take hold of her leg before she could bring her leg back into a defensive stance. Before he could throw her, Shiryoku dropped to her left knee, pulling her opponent off balance. Bending backwards, she threw her captured leg toward the ceiling, lifting her unstable adversary off the ground and vaulting him over her body. Once her opponent was off her body and her shoulders had hit the floor, Shiryoku jumped from the ground and posed herself into her initial defensive stance.

Shiryoku tried to listen for her opponent, but he seemed to have disappeared. She carefully turned in a small circle, keeping her right foot firmly planted; ready to keep her defenses up no matter where he attacked from. _'Behind you.'_ The voice in her head warned her, instantly dropping her body low, barely missing a punch that had would have connected with her jaw. Twisting her body to face her opponent, Shiryoku swept her leg along the ground. She missed her target, loosing him again.

A kunai came to her throat, lightly dancing on her skin. Shiryoku's body stiffened trying to back away from the knife. Her heart rate skyrocketed as her opponent pressed the deadly blade harder against her skin, pulling it upwards and forcing her to stand.

"Which one are you: Itachi or Deidara?" Shiryoku asked, trying to pinpoint his scent now that he was closer to her.

"Why does it matter?" Itachi asked as he walked around to face Shiryoku, careful not to let the kunai leave her skin. She chuckled lightly, as the Uchiha watched the girl relax under his knife.

Shiryoku smiled before saying, "You're too careful with your playthings." Itachi squinted his eye quizzically trying to understand the girl's vague taunt. The kunai he held suddenly grew white hot, searing his hand. He dropped the knife, his hand stinging from the burn on his palm, but kept his focus on the girl.

A small wave of chakra hit him. It was the same wave he had felt a couple days earlier, but in a much less intense concentration. Shiryoku wobbled slightly on her feet, loosing balance and falling forward. Itachi caught her before she could fall completely.

"I'm okay." Shiryoku stated, pushing herself out of his arms. Trying to stand up straight, Shiryoku turned to face Pein. "How did I do?" She asked weakly, stumbling backwards into Itachi. He pushed her so that she stood upright, keeping his hand between her shoulder blades as a support beam.

"We've seen enough. Take her away." Pein said. Itachi moved his hand to her shoulder and pulled her toward the door. Shiryoku willingly followed the Uchiha's guidance.

Once they were out of the room, Shiryoku turned to Itachi. "Why did you go so easy on me?" She asked, veering off course to the right. Itachi pulled her back to the center of the hallway.

"I didn't." He replied, pulling the young woman around a corner.

"Yeah, right." Shiryoku laughed. After a moment, she added, "Kisame said you have a little brother that survived the slaughter?" The Uchiha was slightly taken aback by her sudden mention of Sasuke.

"If the entire Kawamoto family has the ability to control the environment around them, why hasn't Tanigakure become one of the great shinobi villages?" Itachi asked, obviously changing the subject from discussing his brother.

"River Country is wedged between the two largest and most powerful Shinobi lands: Fire and Wind. Tanigakure had seen what had happened to Kusagakure during the Third Shinobi World War, and we were still reeling from the effects of the Second War. My family saw the growing tension between Konoha and Suna as Wind's Daimyo started taking power away from the Kazekage. Fearing becoming caught in an upcoming war, my family lead a coup d'état and seized power from the Kawakage and village council. They hoped that under their leadership, they could strengthen Tani's power before war came to our shores. Civil war broke out, throwing our country into complete chaos. The majority of civilians agreed with my family - Tani needed to act preemptively before our home was torn apart… That was until mass amounts of them started becoming massacred by one of the factions. The Kawamoto claims it was the Kage's faction, the Kage claimed it was the Kawamoto. However, Konoha had an alliance with the Kawakage and sent reinforcements - They were Uchiha; the only people who could have possibly held their own against my family's power. Konoha was able to create a ceasefire agreement, part of which demanded that the only member of our family that is allowed to activate their Kekkei Genkai is our family head and his heir, and they are only to use it when in a battle situation and only as a last resort."

"What happened to those who already had the Kekkei Genkai activated?"

"There weren't too many to begin with - maybe 100 or so. Drinking our siblings' blood to activate our Kekkei Genkai isn't exactly encouraged. Awakening the power isn't a right of passage, and isn't nearly as coveted as the Sharingan or even the Byakugan. But those that did have the ability had it taken away by my father when he became the new clan head."

"How?"

"He killed them. It also sufficed as the family's punishment for rebelling against the Kawakage."

Itachi said nothing as the pair turned into Shiryoku's room. He let go of her shoulder once she was inside, and turned to retreat from her room. "You remind me of my brother, Eiji." Shiryoku said, turning to face Itachi. "He was surprisingly kind despite his reputation."

"You fought well. He must have been a talented teacher." Itachi responded before leaving the sightless girl alone. She sat down on her bed and began playing with her hands.

"I wish he hadn't been in that blast wave…" Shiryoku mused to herself. Eiji had a sadistic side and had been one of her tormentors back home, but he had also become one of her only defenders after her mother's death. To the entire Kawamoto family, she was an abomination - an illegitimate child who possessed a skin tone that had been believed to be bred out of the family gene pool. Her family tortured and ostracized her. Eiji had a tendency to find her during her darkest times and help her by teaching her how to defend herself. Of course, his lessons usually consisted of him beating the shit out of her until she got angry enough to fight back. Eiji was in no way her friend, but he was definitely an ally when she needed one.


	7. Chapter 7

Kisame stood in his position on the far side of the circle watching Shiryoku spar with the Uchiha. The match was short; everyone had predicted that it would be. The girl was fast and had the ability to think quickly enough to bring Itachi to the ground. But, ultimately he was able to take advantage of her one weakness. Kisame believed that if she was not blind, the girl would be just as prodigious as the Uchiha boy.

"Which one are you: Itachi or Deidara?" She asked as her nostrils flared trying to take in the scent of her opponent. Itachi slowly worked his way around from Shiryoku's back, keeping his kunai precariously placed on her artery. Kisame actually felt nervous that Itachi would accidentally slit her throat. He knew Itachi had one of the steadiest hands of anyone in all of Akatsuki, but seeing her throat in danger elicited a strange feeling in Kisame's gut. He clenched his fists tightly together, waiting for Itachi to make his final move.

"Why does it matter?" Itachi asked, firmly planting himself in front of Shiryoku. She smirked at him before offering up a small taunt. Kisame had heard her talk about her sadistic siblings, but he could see a twisted streak in her when she sneered. Maybe he was only projecting his own feelings on to her because of their similarities, but Kisame had a instinctual feeling that she had the potential to be as vicious as the rest of them.

He didn't know why, but Itachi dropped the knife. As he did, Shiryoku wobbled slightly. She had used her Kekkei Genkai in some capacity, but it hadn't been large enough to create a chakra wave. At least he thought that until Samehada purred quietly at his back. Kisame smiled, knowing his sword enjoyed the feel of the girl's chakra as much as he did.

Shiryoku staggered forward, loosing her balance. Kisame wanted to move from his place to try to reach her before she hit the ground, but he did not wish to know Akatsuki's wrath if he moved. Itachi was close enough to catch her once she had stumbled forward.

"I'm okay." She said as she pushed herself out of Itachi's arms. As Pein excused the girl from the circle, Itachi went with her to help find her way back to her room.

Once the pair was out of the cavernous space, Tobi shouted loudly. "Shiryo-chan is amazing! Tobi wants Shiryo-chan to stay. Shiryo-chan can be Tobi's partner!"

"I still believe taking her on will be a risk." Kakuzu stated. "She may be able to keep up with Uchiha, but sending her on missions will ultimately cost us. She has too many disadvantages to be worth our efforts."

"She managed to down Itachi, hm." Deidara countered.

"For less than a fucking second. The damn match only lasted a minute before he had the knife at her throat, you dumb fuck."

"But, she managed to match speed with him without seeing the boy, evade his attack, land a hard strike on him - even I saw him wince when she kicked him - and vault him over her body." Sasori offered. "I do agree that she comes with risks, but if she can replicate that explosion Kisame and Itachi came across, with some training and a good partner, the pros would far outweigh the cons."

"I agree that she has potential, but to put her in a life and death situation when she cannot see would put both her and her partner at risk." Konan said. "And we do not know if she would even accept a mission with us. It seems to be that the only reason she is even remotely willing to stay here is because we offer her refuge from whatever it is that she was running away from. I have no qualms offering her a home within this base, but I cannot, in good conscience, accept her into this organization."

"Good fucking conscience!?" Hidan wailed. "Who in this damned organization has ever had a good conscience?"

"We do not think she would be a good choice for being a member either." Zetsu said, glossing over the howling Jashinist.

Kisame had remained silent, listening to the other Akatsuki members voice their opinions. He did agree that there would be risks in putting her out on a mission, but he felt Sasori was right. She needed training and the right partner. But there weren't any guarantees that she wouldn't somehow find her way into a situation that put herself and her partner in danger. In which case, Konan's suggestion of offering her sanctuary within the base made sense. Whatever it was that she ran from, she had a reason. Living in the base would offer her a marginally safe place. His mind kept swimming in circles, trying to figure out where exactly his opinion lay.

"Kisame?" Pein asked pulling the large man's attention outside of himself. "What is your opinion of the matter?"

"Since when is Akatsuki a democracy?" He retorted gruffly. "What does it matter what we think? Let her stay, make her leave, no matter what we do, she's still blind and will face risks wherever she goes. She could go home to Tanigakure and face whatever it was that she ran away from. She could stay here and get hurt in a training accident. She could go out on a mission and get everyone killed. She could trip over a damned stone and fall to her death in one of the rivers. But, so could I. So could any of us. We may as well give her a chance. If she fails, she fails."

"If she fails, one of us could fucking die." Hidan spat at Kisame.

"Like you have any reason to fear death, you damn zombie."

"If someone in Akatsuki dies, it will be because of their own ineptitude." Itachi spoke from the doorway as he closed it behind him. "No one in this organization is the type to fall on their sword for their partner. If she gets into a situation she cannot handle, on her head be it."

"Uchiha!" Hidan snapped at the man as soon as he finished speaking. "Why the hell did you drop the kunai before cutting the bitch up a bit?"

Itachi looked down at his hand before holding it up for everyone the see. A long, red burn stretched across his palm. It was the size and width of the handle of his knife. "She made me drop it." He stated nonchalantly before letting his hand fall back to his side.

"How did she do that, hm?" Diedara asked, looking curiously around the room.

"Her Kekkei Genkai." Pein responded. "Apparently it has manifested normally, despite not having the use of her eyes."

"No." Kisame said. "I don't think that's it. She may be able to bend the environment around her slightly, but something is off with the way she is able to do so."

Itachi picked up on Kisame's logic, adding, "The chakra blasts that can be felt after she uses her ability shouldn't be happening. She needs a large surge of chakra in order to create the reality she sees in her head because she can't do so using her eyes. The size of the chakra bursts she needs to use her power varies depending on what she is trying to create, but the effects of it to her body are obvious. Burning my hand momentarily took out the use of her inner ear. She was rendered unconscious from merely shutting a door -"

"Merely!? Dammit, she broke my foot!"

Itachi ignored Hidan. He continued by saying, "She can only affect her environment in minor ways. If she tried to create a genjutsu type reality -"

"The blast wave would have the ability to decimate her surrounding area, tearing anyone in her path apart." Kisame agreed.

"If your hypothesis is correct, the effects of the explosion that led you to Shiryoku should have killed her." Konan countered.

"It should have." Itachi concurred. "But it didn't."

"Why?"

"Maybe because it was her first time using her ability. Maybe it was a fluke that she survived. Maybe her body has a way of protecting itself. The only way to find out is to keep her here and watch her." Itachi stated, looking to Pein for a definitive answer. The orange haired man nodded his head decisively.

"She will stay." Pein stated before walking out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

"I want you to train the girl." Pein said as soon as the large man entered the mouth of the cave. The orange haired man looked to the river that flowed outside as he remained hidden in the shadows of their home. Kisame stood beside the man, watching the river lazily flow past them.

"Do you want me to, or does Madara?" Kisame asked. Knowing that the pair was truly alone in the immense space, Kisame felt at ease mentioning the shadow kind of Akatsuki. Pein tore his gaze away from the river to look at the man at his side. "Because if anyone should be training the girl, it's Itachi. He's the dojutsu specialist - outside of yourself."

"She has a dojutsu that she can't use properly. It's pointless to waste mine or Itachi's time on teaching the girl how to use her eyes when she has none."

"I thought the point of keeping her here was to study her Kekkei Genkai. If you aren't willing to waste your time on her, why keep her?" Kisame asked, his tone mocking the supposed leader of Akatsuki.

"I never said we wouldn't be pursuing her abilities. Our approach to understanding her Kekkei Genkai will be more scientific than just setting off a bomb every time we want her to perform."

"Still, why not Itachi? His abilities are more like her own."

"Itachi has the speed and taijutsu to keep her occupied, but you have the stamina and strength that can really push her."

"And what's the real reason?" Kisame asked deadpan. Despite the ginger man's emotionless voice, Kisame could tell that Pein wasn't telling him the entire truth.

"Itachi refuses to train her." Pein finally offered up.

"So, how many of us have you gone through to get to me?" He scoffed at Pein's admission.

"You're my second choice. Madara wanted you from the start. He feels you will challenge her more than Itachi would, and now he has his way."

"I never said I would train her." Kisame continued to mock the ginger. He turned to walk away before Pein spoke again, stopping the large man from leaving the entrance of the base.

"Madara's second choice is Hidan."

"What could that ass have to offer her? He's a science experiment gone wrong." Kisame wailed, turning around to face Pein.

"Madara believes that his erratic behavior in combat situations would be a good way for her to hone defensive attacks, since that is what she already seems to excel at."

"Hidan is the least qualified to train her. He's still pissed at her for breaking his foot, and will probably kill her the first chance he gets."

"There is a simple solution to that." Pein finally turned away from the mouth of the cave to look at Kisame.

"Fine." The large man consented to training Shiryoku. He made his way toward Shiryoku's room contemplating how exactly to train the girl. Kisame had never taken on a student before. It wasn't like he could exactly teach her kenjutsu, at least not right away. He would have to build up her ability to take the offensive instead of waiting for her opponent. But how the hell could she possibly start an offensive attack if she can't even see her opponent in the first place?

Kisame did not have the patience to train her, or anyone for that matter. He liked the girl, he truly did. Shiryoku had a way of smirking at him, brandishing her pointed teeth that made him feel a little less lonely. She had a crooked smile that managed to convey as much joy - or displeasure if Hidan was in the room - as if she had full range of her facial emotions. But liking her and training her were two completely separate issues. Training her would definitely try his nerves.

As he turned a corner, Kisame almost ran right into Konan. "Ah, Kisame." She said monotonously as he danced around the woman. "There is something I need you to do."

"What is it?" He tried to be pleasant, but Kisame was straining himself. He hadn't been in a good mood at all the whole day, and taking Shiryoku on as a student was somehow already pushing him over the edge. He needed to go for a long, relaxing swim; that would definitely make him feel more like himself. He felt more at home in the ocean, but the underground lake that was housed deep within the caves would suffice for now. He couldn't be picky about where he swam since he abandoned his village, but god he longed for the salt of his beloved sea.

"Pein and I will be returning to Amegakure in the morning. Can you clean Shiryoku's eyes while we are away?"

"Why should I be the one -"

"Shiryoku asked for you." Konan stated, looking directly into the blue man's eyes as if daring him to defy a direct request from the girl. "Apparently, she believes you two have some form of rapport. But, if you don't wish to care for her, I will ask someone else." Konan waited for Kisame to tell her off. When he didn't respond, she held out a small bottle for him. "Instructions are on the bottle. Make sure to clean her eyes at least twice a day."

"How long will you be gone?" Kisame asked.

"A couple weeks." She turned the corner leaving Kisame in the hallway. He sighed, looking down at the bottle before pocketing it and continuing on his way. The walk to Shiryoku's room was short in comparison to how large the cavernous base was. Once there, he knocked on her door before opening it.

"Shiryoku…" Kisame said, glancing inside to see if she was there. Shiryoku had a tendency to sit absently on her bed if she wasn't out exploring the base. The murmuring drone of her counting paces throughout the base had quickly become common place. Most of Akatsuki had given up watching her stumble around as she mapped her new home inside of her head. Because of this, Shiryoku had gotten lost in the maze of caverns the composed the base. When Konan realized she wasn't in her room for her afternoon check-up, she made the entire group search for her. The cave tunnels went on for miles, the girl could be lost for days. Kisame managed to find her about a mile and a half into the caves, sitting in a dead-end with her chin resting in her hands.

"What're you doing all the way out here?" He laughed slightly. The young woman didn't even flinch as he quietly stalked toward her. She merely raised her head from her hands, crooked smirk gracing her lips.

"I forgot which way I was supposed to turn." She admitted, holding out her hand for Kisame to help her stand.

"How long have you been sitting here?" Kisame took hold of her outstretched hand and pulled her upright.

"Not long."

"How long?" He asked, seeing through her lie.

"A couple hours."

"So you thought, 'may as well sit here until someone finds me'?"

"I didn't want to get lost any further, and I figured somebody would eventually notice I was gone."

"It's things like this that will make the others think you're helpless."

"I'm not helpless. I just know when I'm beat."

After that, Shiryoku had a pretty good feel for the parts of the base that were most frequently used, but she would push herself into the maze if her boredom got to be too great. Days went by slowly inside the base. And in her constant darkness, Shiryoku would confuse night and day on many occasions, causing her to sleep late and stay up until the wee hours of the morning. When this insomnia would hit, Shiryoku would wander the hallways like a ghost.

She kept mainly to herself in the weeks that she had began living at the Akatsuki base, talking mainly to Kisame, Konan, or Itachi. The two partners both got the impression that she wasn't purposefully distancing herself from the rest of Akatsuki. Until it came to Hidan and Kakuzu.

Shiryoku tried to hide her distaste of Hidan, but Kisame could feel her tense up whenever he was near. She also seemed to be completely afraid of Kakuzu. She would usually flee a room as soon as she would sense the dark man nearby. He didn't understand how she knew Kakuzu was coming. Almost ninety percent of the time, if Shiryoku suddenly decided she no longer wanted to be somewhere, Kakuzu would walk in seconds after she disappeared. As for the others, it was as if they didn't exist in her little world; saddening both Deidara and Tobi. Deidara wanted to be around her should she go off and create some form of explosion, Tobi just seemed to want to get to know her. She would just walk around or sit in her room, content in being alone.

Kisame walked inside of the small room when he saw the young woman wasn't on her bed. "Shiryoku?" He asked, turning the corner to her private bathroom. The door was closed but she wasn't inside. He sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Damn kid better not be lost again." He muttered to himself before walking out of her room.

_'Fuck it.'_ Kisame's inner monologue spoke. _'Find her later. Go for a swim.'_ The large man worked his way deep into the base, finding the cave that housed his lake. None of the others ever ventured to the water; they didn't need the lake like Kisame did. He had never truly felt like he belonged anywhere unless he was swimming. When he was in the water, he wasn't the ferocious shark-like man that people feared, and he sure as hell wasn't the abandoned child that had survived the streets of Kirigakure. In the water, the world made sense; the world was pure and natural. Everything had a place in the order of things. And there was no lies or deceit, there were no people. He didn't hate people - well, yes he did - but he hated the world they had created. It was a mess of fabrications and falsities, and no one truly knew where they stood in mankind's realm. The water offered Kisame a world without lies.

Inside the cave housing his lake, Kisame saw a small woman with obsidian-purple hair standing at the water's edge. Only her toes touched the water. The placid lake had no waves to gently lick at her feet. Her back was to him, but he could tell her nose was raised trying to take in the smell of the water.

"How large is it?" She asked, somehow sensing that Kisame had joined her.

"About 45 meters in diameter. Not a pond, but not quite a lake. More like a pool than anything else."

"How deep?"

"Depends. Most of it is only about 11 meters deep, but there is a drop off on the far side that connects to an underground river. Don't know where that leads though, probably to the river outside of the base… How did you find this place?"

"I could smell water on you from time to time. It was different from the water in our plumbing; much more earthy with a bit of sediment build up. So, I followed my nose." She turned her head toward Kisame as she spoke. She didn't need to pretend to look at the person to whom she was speaking, but Kisame figured she did so as a common courtesy. It made people feel less like they were talking to a wall when she looked at them. "Perks of being blind, your sense of smell is omniscient."

"Is that how you can tell whenever Kakuzu is approaching?"

"Yes. That man has a very foul odor."

"What about me? Do I smell?" He joked, kicking off his sandals and leg warmers.

"Yes." Shiryoku turned her attention back to the dormant lake. When she didn't expand upon what he smelled like, Kisame subtly sniffed at himself trying to figure out if it was a good or bad smell. "Don't worry." Shiryoku stated. "You're nothing like Kakuzu. It's a good smell."

"Do you swim?" He asked, wading into the water.

"I used to, until -" She gestured at the bandages on wrapping her eyes. "After that, I was too afraid I'd loose my bearings in the water and get lost. The only water sources in Tani are rivers. If I got caught in one of the currents, I would have never been able to find my way back home."

"There are no currents in here. You should start swimming again, it'd help relieve some of your boredom."

"Maybe another time." She began retreating toward the entrance of the cave.

"Hold on a second." Kisame said, making her stop and turn around. "Leader decided that I will train you while you're here. We'll start tomorrow." Shiryoku nodded, leaving the large man alone to swim in peace.


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm going to apologize for what's about to happen now. I'm not the most… gentle of people." Kisame stated as he set a large bowl on Shiryoku's bedside table. He read over the instructions Konan had left on the bottle again before adding a few drops to the bowl. The water turned a murky white color as he swizzled a clean cloth in the medicine before wringing it out. He turned to face the young woman as she pulled the bandages from her face, revealing her heavily marred brows. The scarring's appearance hadn't changed any, but Kisame was surprised to see that her actual eyes had improved greatly. There wasn't nearly as much dried mucus built up around the rims of her eyelids, and the filmy membrane that had coated her eyeballs had reduced greatly. He could start to make out the dark outline of irises underneath the pellicle covering her eyes.

"This medicine seems to be working." Kisame mused as he moved the cloth across her lower eyelid.

"I wouldn't know." Shiryoku replied, her crooked smile working slowly across her face. Shiryoku hissed suddenly, recoiling from the cloth. She brought her hand to cover Kisame's hand. "You have to be a little gentler. Not all of my nerves are dead." She carefully moved his hand across her eye, showing him how much pressure to use. Once she took her hand away, Kisame tried to keep the pressure on her eyes steady.

"I was trying to think of how to train you…" Kisame offered. "But, I'm coming up blank. You said your brother taught you how to defend yourself. How? What did he do?"

"He beat the shit out of me until I got angry enough to fight back. Eventually I figured out I had to be faster than him."

"So, you have absolutely no formal training with anything? Chakra molding and control, taijutsu, nothing?"

"Formal? No. But, Eiji taught me how to mold chakra to add a bit of extra power to attacks, other than that, I know enough to protect myself."

"Alright." Kisame sighed, dropping the cloth into the wash basin before grabbing clean bandages. He was almost certain training her would be a lost cause. She had a lot of potential, he would happily admit that, but Kisame was not a miracle worker. "Nature manipulation will probably be the best place to go after we work on your chakra control. It will help teach you further chakra control, and eventually give you some offensive and defensive techniques that will distance you from an opponent."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you don't have to wait for someone to attack you before you can make your move. You won't have to depend on purely defending yourself so much anymore."

"That would be handy." Shiryoku mused, moving her ponytail out of the way for Kisame to dress her head properly. He finished off the binding around her eyes, and stood from her bedside.

"Let's get started." Kisame stood, pulling the girl to her feet.

* * *

"Do it again." Kisame lazily said as he heard a light splash of water. He was sitting along the wall of the cave that housed his lake, unwrapping Samehada's scaled blades. Shiryoku stood ankle deep in the water. He had purposefully made her practice in the shallowest section of the lake. If she fell through the water in an area that was too deep, Shiryoku could easily loose her sense of direction which would force him to have to retrieve her. Kisame would rather watch her progress than actively participate in it. She heaved a heavy 'humph' before diligently turning around and walking out of the stagnant pool. As soon as she was out, she faced the water and focused intently on her mission.

The young woman was trying to figure out how to stand and walk on water. She understood the concept, she needed to pour a constant stream of chakra through her feet to keep her atop the water, but had to fluctuate the amount needed to keep up with the rippling of the water beneath her. Every time she would begin her task and build up her chakra, Samehada would quietly coo in Kisame's lap.

"What is that noise?" Shiryoku yelled, whipping herself around to face Kisame. He was slightly shocked by the sudden outburst from the girl, having never heard her speak above a murmur.

"It's my sword." He stated, looking down at Samehada.

"Like anyone would believe that. Don't think you can fool me just because I can't see what you're doing." Kisame had no clue where this attitude was coming from, but he actually liked this snarky side of her. He stood and walked over to Shiryoku, Samehada in hand.

"It has nothing to do with you being blind. Hold out your hand." Kisame ordered. If he could see her eyes, Kisame had the feeling she would be staring at him with an incredulous look. He could feel her raised eyebrow as it judged him from behind her bandages. "Just hold out your hand." Once she finally complied, Kisame gently set Samehada's handle in the girl's palm. As soon as her fingers were tightly clamped around the sword, Samehada wiggled enthusiastically, grumbling happily as it was held by the source of such wondrous chakra.

"What the hell!?" Shiryoku shrieked, throwing the sword from her grip. Kisame laughed as the sword wound itself around her feet, purring joyously. She tried to step away from the thing at her feet, but stumbled over the large object, falling backwards into the lake. Shiryoku landed hard, her fall only slightly broken by the shallow water.

"That is my sword, Samehada; one of the seven swords of Kirigakure." Kisame spoke once Shiryoku finally pushed herself out of the water. "Damn thing loves your chakra."

"Samehada?" Shiryoku asked in disbelief, looking up to her new mentor.

"Yes."

"My mother told me of the Seven Swords…" Shiryoku leaned onto her knees, reverently reaching out for Samehada. "She told me that Samehada is the greatest of them all." Kisame grinned broadly, bending down to set the sword back in her hands.

"Can't argue with that." The sword stopped moving in her palms, instead cooing quietly as it took in the taste of Shiryoku's chakra.

"Why does it like my chakra?" Shiryoku inquired, her free hand gently petting the sword. She was trying to get a feel for just how large it was. Kisame watched his sword shudder under the girl's gentle touch. Shiryoku recoiled when she accidentally cut herself on Samehada's scales. She brought the heel of her palm to her mouth, trying to suck away the small droplets of blood.

"You have a very unique chakra. Samehada and I can both sense it, but it seems no one else can pick up on the finer details of your signature. Samehada can feel it whenever you even mold chakra, but I can only when the blast wave from your Kekkei Genkai hits."

"Unique, how?"

"It, uh…" Kisame didn't want to admit that her explosive chakra had given him the best high in his life. Twice. How could he even begin to describe the mind numbing effects that her chakra had over him? "It tastes like Ahi tuna." He didn't exactly lie. After the last time he had felt her chakra, Kisame had a distinct taste of the fish in his mouth for a couple days.

"What?" Shiryoku giggled. He hesitated momentarily, listening to the sound of her giggle. He had heard her chuckle and laugh before, but this was different. Her giggle sounded like a lithely flute, folding his mouth into a slight smirk.

"Get back to training." Kisame ordered, ripping Samehada from Shiryoku's hands. He stalked to the back of the room as Shiryoku stood on the water's edge. Even before he was sitting down, Kisame heard the gently splash of her feet falling through the shallow water. He focused on caring for his sword, knowing that the girl would figure how to stand on the water eventually. Hours seemed to tick by as he inspected each of the scaled blades before beginning to re-wrap his most prized possession. Every now and again the periphery of his hearing was assaulted by the dull splash of Shiryoku falling through the water.

"Kisame…" Shiryoku's voice pulled him out of his trance. He looked up to see the young woman standing in the exact center of the lake, her arms triumphantly folded across her chest. The visible portion of her face was plastered with a giant, crooked grin.

"Come back." He said, holstering Samehada on his back as he walked to the water's edge.

"Now what?" Shiryoku asked, practically skipping across the surface of the water. Kisame had to admit, he was surprised by how quickly she had picked this ability up despite her lack of training.

"We're going to start by identifying what type of chakra you have. Once we do that, I can teach you how to utilize it. Hold on to this." Kisame commanded as soon as she reached the water's shore. He placed a piece of paper into her palm. Shiryoku pinched the paper between her fingers, trying to get a feel for it. There was an odd sort of roughness to it, unlike any paper she had felt before.

"What is it?"

"It's chakra paper. It will help us figure out what nature of chakra you have." Kisame purposefully neglected telling her that it would take years to perfect nature transformation techniques. "Release a little chakra into the paper." Shiryoku did as she was told, sending a small wave of her chakra into her hand. Instantly the paper became damp, soggily folding in on itself.

"Well, that's good." Kisame chortled.

"What is?"

"We have the same nature release. It'll make teaching you that much easier."


	10. Chapter 10

"How long do I have to keep doing this?" Shiryoku asked as she stood in the middle of the lake.

"Until you get it." Kisame replied, sitting on the water's edge, feet hanging over into the shallows. He feigned disinterest, hiding his true feelings behind his voice. To Shiryoku he sounded bored and on the border of leaving the girl to train alone, but in reality he couldn't take his eyes off the young woman. Kisame could not understand how she was able to perform a ninjutsu already. _'How the hell is she doing this?'_ Kisame thought as he stared slack jawed at his student.

They had only been working for a week, she should just be starting to be able to mold her chakra in the correct way to utilize it's affinity for water. Yet here she stood, shrouded in fog from the Hidden Mist Jutsu. The mist that surrounded her was rather light in comparison to the full blown, pearly mist that Kisame could create.

"Am I even doing anything?" She asked, growing irritated by Kisame's perceived disinterest.

"A little bit." Kisame replied. "You've got a nice haze going."

"Haze?"

"Like on a hot summer day when it's so humid outside you can see the moisture in the air."

"I've never seen that. I know the mist of home and I vaguely remember the sunshine in Tani."

"Then use that to your advantage. When using this jutsu, remember the thick fog of the Land of Water, and hold it in your mind. Let your chakra create the reality in your mind."

"You're basically describing my Kekkei Genkai." She snorted, the haze surrounding her growing a little denser.

"No, you're doing it right now. Keep focusing on what you're doing without engaging your ability." Kisame watched her nod her head confidently, returning to the task at hand. After a moment, Shiryoku dropped her hands, letting the fog that had gathered about her evaporate. "Now what?"

"Taking a break."

"Breaks are for the weak. 'The weak are meat, the strong eat.'" Kisame quoted.

"Eat your heart out." Shiryoku joked, walking toward Kisame. He held out his hand as she approached, his palm gently resting against her stomach to stop her from walking past him. After kicking off her shoes, Shiryoku sat down next to him, gently paddling her feet in the shallow water.

"What was it like growing up in Kiri?" Shiryoku asked, lifting her leg from the pool, listening to the water gently fall from her.

"It was…" Kisame replied, absentmindedly chewing on the inside of his lip. "I grew up on the streets - there were more homeless children in Kiri than ones that had homes. We all divided off into little cartels and gangs, each having their own territories to protect. I ran one for awhile, but I left when I got into the academy. Because of how I looked, most of the other students decided I was the one to prove their worth against. I usually beat the everliving shit out of them - killed a couple too…" He mused, a distant smirk ringing in his voice. "Somehow managed to graduate when I was 10. I killed all of my classmates just so I could find a place in my village. And for awhile I thought I had, but then… Your mother made the right decision raising you outside of the village."

"I don't remember much of living with her." Shiryoku admitted. "Whenever I think about home, I'm sitting by the ocean watching the sun rise before the mist had rolled in. Swimming all day, coming back inside looking like a prune. The ocean was where I was happy…" Shiryoku gently raised her nose to the air and breathed deeply. Kisame figured she was trying to draw out the old sensory memory of her childhood. And then she spoke. "You smell like the ocean. That day I woke up on your shoulder the sea just radiated from you. It reminded me what home smelled like. I couldn't believe I had forgotten."

Kisame smirked to himself, remembering the smell that had emanated from her blood the day he found her; the dusty Kiri mist that he had not known he missed. The smell that made him remember one small piece of his home that hadn't been all too bad. He glanced over at Shiryoku. Her head was resting gently on her shoulder as her feet thrummed happily in the water. Ripples slowly spread across the pool with each pat of her foot. Shiryoku dug her feet deep in the shallow water before kicking a smattering of water into the air. She overshot how hard to throw the water, sending it back on the pair.

"Sorry." Shiryoku apologized sheepishly pulling her legs out of the water. Kisame noticed that the small splotches of water than remained on Shiryoku's skin glimmered blue in the dully lit cave. He wanted to examine the blue skin beneath the water, but kept his hands to himself.

"You should get back to training." Kisame said before the girl could soak them any further. Shiryoku nodded before walking back to the middle of the lake without her shoes.

"Hey, Gills!" Hidan yelled as he made his way into the cave. "Itachi says he needs the Freak."

"What does he want with Shiryoku?" Kisame asked, standing up from the shallows.

"Hell if I know. He just told me to get her."

"Why did you come get her?"

"She may be a freak, but she's still one damn fine piece of ass… What the hell is she doing?"

"She's training."

"Freak!" Hidan yelled out to the girl, breaking her concentration. The shroud of mist that she was trying to build dissipated instantly. "Get over here."

"I have a name." Shiryoku defiantly replied, bringing her hands to rest in front of her torso to mold more chakra.

"I don't give a shit. Move it." Hidan scolded the woman.

"Go away, I'm busy." The woman said, moving her hands to form the seals she needed. Kisame chuckled to himself, turning away from the infuriated silver-haired man. He had never met anyone that filled Hidan with such impotent rage before. Kisame absolutely loved how much she pissed him off. Hidan had a quick fuse to begin with, but watching the girl slowly grow bolder in her defiance of him, her complete lack of fear for him, assured Kisame that Akatsuki had made the right choice in keeping her.

"Get your ass over here."

Shiryoku cloaked herself within the mist again. Kisame could still see her inside of the fog, but she had infused a lot more chakra into it this time, creating a much denser haze. "Dammit! Don't fucking think you can hide from me." Hidan howled at the girl, angrily marching across the placid lake toward the girl. The closer he came to Shiryoku, the thicker the mist became. Kisame was quite impressed by her ability to already affect the density of her fog. Soon, both Hidan and Shiryoku had completely disappeared in the mist.

"Where the fuck are you, Freak?" Kisame could hear Hidan shriek from within the mist. Kisame smirked as he listened to the Jashinist make his way across the lake. The smile was wiped from his face the moment the pain hit him.

A small, angry knot found a home in the pit of his stomach, doubling the large man over in pain. Kisame landed on his knees as the knot in his stomach began taking hold of his entire torso. Pain tore at every sinew and muscle in his body. He felt as though a black hole had formed in his intestine, pulling himself into his body until he imploded from the pain. The pain suddenly jumped to his head, pushing down on his brain. The pressure that swelled on his brain pushed on the back of his eyes. Kisame clawed at the stone floor of the cave, trying to force the pain from his body. The pressure on his eyes became unbearable, forcing him to push his palms against them out of the fear that they could bulge from his head. The slightest movement made every piece of him feel as though he were as fragile as porcelain. Kisame's stomach turned, forcing him into a fit of dry heaves.

"Shiryoku, stop!" Kisame yelled into the mist once he was able to catch his breath. An explosive blast ricocheted through the cave with a deafening boom. Stalactites that ran along the roof fell from the force of the explosion. As they hit the ground, the stalactites burst into small pieces of shrapnel; some of which embedded themselves inside of Kisame.

Hidan was thrown from the mist, skidding to a stop across the stone floor of the cave. He collided with a stalagmite along the far wall so hard his back should have snapped. The moment Hidan hit the stalagmite the mist that had enveloped Shiryoku disappeared. The woman was standing on the far side of the lake, having moved through the mist in order to evade Hidan. Kisame rushed to push himself to his feet, running across the water toward the woman. She was still standing, but he could see her neck collapse under the weight of her head. Her knees buckled as she passed out, throwing Shiryoku through the water's glassy surface. Kisame dove in after her.

It was hard to see in the murky water of the dark cave, But Kisame was able to zero in on the girl before she sank too deep. Shiryoku had plummeted about ten meters before the shark was able to reach her, trying to breach the surface before she breathed in too much water. As Kisame made the ascension, he noticed that the girl had only been a meter from being pulled into the submerged river. If she had only been a couple feet to her left when she fell into the lake, Kisame would have never been able to reach her in time. He didn't doubt his ability to pull her from the river, but by the time he would have gotten her out and to the surface, no amount of CPR would have been able to save her.

Kisame broke the water's surface, pulling the girl to the water's edge. Shiryoku had a weak heartbeat, but he knew there was water in her lungs that she needed to expel. As Kisame began CPR on the girl, many of the Akatsuki members came barreling through the door.

"What was that?" Kakuzu asked as a remnant stalactite shrapnel fell on him.

"She used it, didn't she?" Deidara asked, popping out from behind the dark man. "Shiryoku used her Kekkei Genkai, hm."

"Freak fucking threw me against this piece of shit." Hidan was seething as he stomped down on the stalactite he had crashed into. He began taking out the frustration he felt toward the girl on the innocent piece of rock, thrashing his heel against the column until it shattered into pieces. Once the stalagmite was thoroughly pulverized, the silver-haired man moved to another column, destroying it until all rage he felt toward Shiryoku had been beaten out of him.

"Is she breathing?" Itachi asked, kneeling beside Kisame and the girl. As he did, Shiryoku coughed the water from her lungs. Her breathing was haggard as she tried to expel the liquid from her lungs. Shiryoku rolled on to her side facing Kisame, her palms pressing against her pounding head. One hand pushed the bandages covering her head up to her forehead, revealing her eyes. Kisame could see a tangerine colored circle glowing brightly under the filmy, white membrane. The vibrant color quickly faded to the dark outline that Kisame knew to be her iris. As soon as the orange had completely vanished from her eye, Shiryoku passed out again.

Itachi pulled Kisame's attention away from Shiryoku before Kisame could take a closer look at the girl's eye. "You're bleeding." Itachi stated, pointing to the gills on Kisame's right shoulder.

"I'll deal with it later." Kisame replied as he picked Shiryoku up. The Akatsuki members parted from the entrance of the cave, making way for Kisame to take the young woman back to her room. Hidan was off in the distance, violently throwing shards of broken rock against the cave wall.


	11. Chapter 11

"ARGH! Be careful, would you!?" Kisame yelled at Itachi as the black-haired man pulled rocky shrapnel out of his back. As soon as the rock was out of Kisame's skin, Itachi washed over the wound with an antiseptic while dropping the fragment in a bowl with the others. He dressed the wound with gauze before moving on to another shard.

"You shouldn't have let her use her Kekkei Genkai." Itachi warned, digging into Kisame's back for another shard. "We still don't understand it enough to let her blow up whenever she wants."

"She may be my student, but you can't expect me to control her every action. Especially if Hidan is involved. Shiryoku doesn't like him to the point where she will actively taunt and defy him. You want her to respond to someone, send in Kakuzu; she's too scared of him to pull any stunts."

"And how does Shiryoku respond to you?"

"She listens when she needs to, asks questions when she has them. So far, she's been a pretty good student."

"Anything else?

"I think she's trying to get to know me. Whenever she takes break, she likes to ask questions." Kisame said dejectedly.

"Which is problematic?"

"I've made it a policy not to create strong bonds with the people I work with. The mission is always more important. But this kid, I can't help but answer her - Man, come on!" Kisame howled at Itachi as a rock was extracted from his back. He wouldn't call his partnership with Itachi anything like a friendship. The large man held a deep respect for the Uchiha boy, but Itachi knew very little of the shark's personal life or history. Itachi understood this, and reciprocated their understanding of silence. Personal information was too important to be discussed in an organization like Akatsuki.

"I've got to work on your shoulder now." Itachi replied after bandaging Kisame's torso. The large man turned so Itachi could get a better view of the gills on his right shoulder. "This is going to hurt."

"You think!?" Kisame snapped at his partner. Itachi handed Kisame a towel. Before Kisame could ask what it was for, Itachi was working on his gills. As soon as Itachi dug into the top gill to pull out the shrapnel, Kisame was biting onto the towel to keep himself from screaming. "Dammit!" Kisame yelled as soon as the rock had been removed from his shoulder. The table next to him cracked as he slammed his left fist down.

"Can you stop with the fucking yelling?" Hidan scolded the large man as he entered the dinning area of the base. Tobi skipped in behind the silver-haired man.

"This is you damn fault!" Kisame yelled at the Jashinist, pushing himself from the Table to stare down at the man.

"My fault? You're the one who can't keep his damned bitch reined in."

"Tobi doesn't think Shiryo-chan is a bitch." Tobi announced.

"Shut up." Hidan scoffed.

"I don't have to keep her reined in. She's proven on more than one occasion she can kick your ass without my help." He took an intimidating step towards Hidan.

"Enough." Itachi broke the two apart. Hidan put up surprisingly little fight before stalking away to the kitchens.

"Kisa-senpai should take care of his gills." Tobi stated as he poked at Kisame's still bleeding shoulder. The blue man sat down at the table to let Itachi return to his work of cleaning out his wounds.

* * *

It had been two days and Shiryoku had yet to wake up. Despite the fact that she was unconscious, Kisame figured her eyes would still need cleaning. And because she could not take the pills Konan had prescribed her, Kisame was diligent in cleaning any build up along the rim of her eyelids. Her knew the origami girl's wrath would be volatile at best should Shiryoku's condition slip under his care.

"Alright, kid…" Kisame said as he lightly picked up her head and began unwrapping the bandages around her eyes. "You need to wake up, because I've got some questions about those eyes of yours." Once the dressings were off, he gently set her head down on her pillow before adding a couple drops of the liquid medicine in the water bowl. He drenched the cloth in the murky substance. "For instance," he continued as he turned back to Shiryoku, "why did I see something orange glowing under that film on your eye?"

The girl remained silent in her unconscious state. Kisame pulled on her right eyelids, inspecting the membrane that coated her eye. It hadn't changed in density any, but Kisame could tell that the membrane didn't look as bad as it had been. "Or how about the fact that your eyes seem to be healing themselves?" He closed her eyes before returning the cloth to her eyes. He softly swept the damp washcloth along her eyelids, picking up whatever maladies had crusted on them. "Or let's talk about why you were in Land of Fire in the first place. Doesn't have much to do with your eyes, but it's where you activated this power of yours, so it fits. What were you running from that pushed you into killing your siblings? What would make you, a girl who survived getting her face set on fire and a coup, decide enough was enough, hm? …I'm starting to talk like Deidara."

"Why is Kisa-senpai talking to himself?' Tobi asked from the doorway.

"I'm talking to the girl." He replied, trying to hide his embarrassment from Tobi catching him talking to Shiryoku.

"Shiryo-chan is awake?" Tobi excitedly jumped into the room to look at the sleeping girl. "Shiryo-chan is not awake. Kisa-senpai lied." He sadly sighed.

"I didn't lie. I told you I was talking to her. Didn't say if she was talking back." He smirked as he push Tobi away from Shiryoku. "Get out the way. I'm working." The masked man remained uncharacteristically quiet as he looked at the sleeping girl before him.

"What is it?" Kisame asked as he tossed the dirty washcloth in the bowl. He could practically hear the man's brain working through a train of thought.

"Does Kisa-senpai care about Shiryo-chan?" Tobi asked, handing the clean bandages to Kisame.

"I'm just doing what was asked of me… Hold your hand here." He directed Tobi, who held the bandage in place while Kisame lifted Shiryoku's head to dress her eyes. Once the bandage could stay in place, Tobi removed his hand and watched Kisame continue to wrap her head.

"Konan-senpai asked Kisa-senpai for him to do this?"

"Shiryoku asked for me to do this."

"He does this because Shiryo-chan asked." Tobi mumbled. "Kisa-senpai has never done what anyone asks. Why is Shiryo-chan the exception?"

"She's not the exception. With Konan gone, no one else was going to do it."

"Itachi-senpai would. Or Deidara-senpai."

"She's not the exception." Kisame repeated as he pushed the masked man from the room. The pair left the sleeping girl alone in her room; both hoping she would wake up soon.


	12. Chapter 12

Kisame lay on his oversized bed, willing himself to fall asleep. He had been rolling around on his mattress for hours trying to make his brain shut up long enough to doze off. But no matter what position he lay in, Kisame's brain would not turn off.

His mind kept berating him. No matter how hard he tried to shut the voice in his head up, Kisame was constantly plagued by it. He hated that voice in his head; it had been remarkably absent for the majority of his life. It had never scolded him for killing teammates or Samehada's previous master. It was silent when he left Kirigakure to join Akatsuki. Why the hell was it annoying him now?

_'Something has to be done about her. It's been three days and Shiryoku has yet to wake up.'_

"What do you expect me to do?"

_'Take her to a hospital. Something is wrong.'_

"Closest hospital is in Tanigakure, the second I step foot in there with her, her family will find her."

_'So what? We don't know what she ran away from them. She needs to be somewhere where the people actually know what they are doing. Tani is her best option.'_

"Taking her to Tani would be like me returning to Kiri. Can you really justify forcing her back there when she wakes up?"

_'Then what do you suggest we do?'_

"I don't know. But, Tanigakure is out."

_'What about Amegakure? Pein and Konan won't like us showing up at Headquarters, but because we are Akatsuki, we will have some level of protection. Getting her there will be a lot more difficult, but I don't think her family can track her when she is unconscious.'_

"How so?"

_'The day we found her, we had to backtrack and take the hidden path because her family was waiting just inside the border. If they were waiting because they could sense her, why didn't they follow us south and ambush us once we had crossed into River country? She was awake right before Itachi felt their presence, and started acting funny, remember? Possibly because she knew they were there. If she could feel them, they could feel her. But, we pushed her and knocked her unconscious, severing whatever bond her family uses to sense one another.'_

"It should only take a little over a half-day to get her up to Amegakure."

_'Opposed to the two hours it would take to travel down-river to Tani.'_

"We agreed on Amegakure… If she's still unconscious in the morning -"

_'It _is_ morning.'_

"If she's still unconscious once Itachi wakes up, he and I will discuss taking her to Amegakure."

_'Why Itachi?'_

"I trust his opinion."

_'Fine. But you're still not going to be able to sleep.'_

"Shut up!" Kisame yelled out loud, ending his internal argument. He heaved a sigh before rolling around on his bed some more. The voice was gone, but he felt wide awake. Awake enough to run laps around the entire base until the sun started its ascension in the sky. "Fuck it. I'm going for a swim." He said as he begrudgingly pushed himself out of his large, warm bed. The cold floor stung against his feet, but luckily the walk to the underground lake would be relatively short. Kisame's bedroom was the closest to the pool, but furthest from everyone else's. The other bedroom were closer to the main living areas of the base, but Kisame preferred to keep quarters closer to the water for nights like this. It was more convent to live this close to the lake instead of having to traipse through the entire base just to have a decent swim.

As he was crossing the threshold of his room, Kisame heard Samehada begin to grumble. If he hadn't known any better, Kisame would have guessed the sword was having puppy dreams, but the sword did not sleep. The noise coming from Samehada turned from a dull grumble to a distinct angry growl. Staring at the sword, Kisame decided to make a detour on his way to the lake and check up on Shiryoku. The only reason Kisame could see why Samehada would start acting up was because it could sense some form of fluctuation in her chakra. Maybe the girl was finally awake.

Shiryoku's room was in the exact opposite direction from the pool, but it was also the closest room to his - despite it being close to three hundred yards away through a maze of twisting tunnels and hallways. The design of the base made absolutely no sense to Kisame. Hallways led nowhere, rooms were half-carved into the cave; it was one giant, cavernous fun-house. Kisame hated fun-houses.

As Kisame slowly ambled through the hallway, taking his time to look in on the girl, an ear piercing shriek issued throughout the base. It sounded like the death throws of a wounded animal trying to ward off any predators. The screaming made Kisame stop in his tracks and cover his ears. He had never heard anything like it before. The large man knew human screams, he had heard them plenty of times. But there was absolutely nothing about the shrill noise that sounded human.

The screaming stopped, throwing the caves into an eerie calm. The silence lasted only momentarily before the feral howls started again. As soon as the second round of shrieks began, Kisame ran through the halls, trying to find the source of the sound. As he worked his way closer to the front of the base, the noise became deafening, and yet easier to make out. What had sounded like an animal cry slowly morphed into the piercing screams of a woman. There was a lull in the overwhelming noise as he rounded the corner in the hallway that led to Shiryoku's room. Hidan, Deidara, Sasori, and Tobi were standing outside her open door.

"What the hell is going on?" Kisame yelled at them, but the men couldn't hear him; the screaming started piercing their eardrums again. Kisame pushed past them, barging through the doorway to see Itachi and Kakuzu holding Shiryoku down against her mattress. She continued to scream, but did not seem to be fighting the two off of her. She instead looked to be writhing in agony. Shiryoku twisted her body in ways that it should not have been able to bend.

Despite the weight of the two men atop her, Shiryoku was able to push herself off of the mattress, arching her back so she appeared to be bent in half. Kakuzu and Itachi managed to force her back down the mattress before she snapped her back in two. She relaxed for a moment, letting her body fall limp against the bed and stopped screaming. Kakuzu and Itachi looked to one another, trying to figure out what to do next. Shiryoku seemed to have exhausted herself. While she had stopped screaming, the girl was groaning in pain. The momentary peace was violently broken as Shiryoku began screaming again and kicked her legs out from under Itachi. Both Itachi and Kakuzu were thrown from her as she thrust her torso away from the mattress. Her hands shot to her head, clawing at the bandages that wrapped around her face. The dressing fell from her as her fingernails tore at the scarred skin surrounding her eyes. Her eyelids were clenched shut, but her sharp nails cut into the scars, sending trails of blood down her face.

Kisame moved quickly, pushing her arms back down and straddling her hips before she could hurt herself any further. He pressed his entire weight down against her, forcing her down on her mattress and trying to get her to remain still under him. One arm tightly wrapped around her arms, pinning them to her sides while his legs locked themselves around her knees. There was something odd about the way her skin felt against his bare chest and arms. Her skin was warm and smooth, but there was a slippery quality to it like wet leather. He forced her tightly against his chest, absorbing almost every movement she made. Shiryoku still managed to thrash about beneath him, but her restricted movement seemed to be working in Kisame's favor. He could feel more of her strange skin slowly come into contact with his torso as her shirt rode up her body from her thrashing movements. She stopped screaming as her jaw clenched itself shut. A low growl slowly grew in her throat, reminding Kisame of the feral animal he had heard back by his room.

"Give me something to stop her swallowing her tongue." Kisame ordered. Itachi stepped forward, taking the pillow from beneath Shiryoku's head. He removed the pillowcase and wound it tightly as Kisame forced the girl's mouth open with his free hand. Itachi was able to strap the pillowcase inside Shiryoku's mouth before her sharp teeth could clamp shut on his hand. Kisame lifted her head up for Itachi to loosely tie the pillowcase around the back of her skull. Once the fabric was secured, Shiryoku seemed to calm down slightly. She stopped twisting her body beneath the large man, but continued to grunt in her discomfort. He could feel every muscle in her body tightly contract beneath him as she tried to force whatever pain she was feeling out of her system. She started to try to fight his hold over her, throwing herself against his body. How this girl, who was half Kisame's size, had this much strength against him was almost mind boggling. Unless she was running on pure adrenaline, she shouldn't be able to exert this much power against him.

"Shiryoku!" He yelled at her, slapping her cheek with his free hand. The sting of his hand hitting her managed to stop her squirming momentarily. He held tightly to her chin, hoping that forcing her to stay immobile would help her situation. Kisame had no clue if she could hear him or not, but he figured talking to her was their best option. "Calm down. Whatever you are feeling will pass." A small whimper escaped her through the pillowcase. Kisame shot a glance over to his partner, who nodded in agreement.

"We have the situation under control." Itachi said, trying to usher Kakuzu and the others away from Shiryoku's room. Kakuzu willingly walked away to his room, while the other three stood glued to their places.

"Tobi wants to know if Shiryo-chan is alright."

"So do I, hm."

"Like hell you have it under control. I'm not leaving until I find out why the bitch was screaming." Hidan howled at the Uchiha.

"We have it under control. Leave now." Itachi restated before forcing the door shut on the other Akatsuki members. He locked the sturdy door and turned around to see Kisame trying to calm Shiryoku down.

"I know it hurts, but you have to focus on something else." Kisame quietly said. His voice was surprisingly gentle. Itachi had never heard the man speak in any manner that could be considered gentle. He knew there was a strange sense of kindness inside the blue man, underneath the snark and sadistic killing streak. But being gentle was not anything Itachi thought Kisame capable of. "Think about the ocean back home in the Land of Water; the look of the see as the sun started to rise, dark blues and blacks giving birth to pinks and reds and golds. The mist off on the horizon, ready to roll in for the day…" Kisame carefully sat up, pulling the girl into his lap.

She did not resist, nor did she try to contort her body in pain. Kisame kept his arm tightly wrapped around her torso, keeping her arms confined. He let her legs spill over his thighs onto the mattress. Shiryoku shuddered as she tried to relax, but whatever it was that was hurting her would not release it's hold. She let out a painful moan as Kisame pulled her head firmly against his chest. He was trying to restrict her movement as much as he possible could. The less she moved, the less likely she was to hurt herself in some capacity. "Think about swimming in that ocean again. Let the pain go with the tide. Let it wash out to sea."

As the large man tried to comfort Shiryoku, Itachi could hear her quietly crying - her voice muffled drastically by the pillowcase. "Can you get a read off of her chakra?" Itachi asked. Kisame had told the Uchiha about the way her chakra had made him feel every time she had released her Kekkei Genkai. No one else seemed to be effected by it the way Kisame was.

"No. Samehada was acting weird, which was why I decided to check up on her." Kisame answered pulling Shiryoku tighter against him. The firmer his hold on her, the more Shiryoku seemed to relax, until her soft sobs finally died out. The two Akatsuki sat in silence, waiting for the girl to signal that she was fine. After she had sat still for a couple minutes, Kisame relaxed his hold on her. She fell limp against his bare chest. "Shiryoku?" He asked, pushing the girl's languid body from his. Her head drooped against her chest before he brought her body back to his chest to check her throat for a pulse. The faint throb of her blood gently beat against his fingertips. "What the hell was that?" He asked as he removed the pillowcase from Shiryoku's mouth.

"I don't know. I was woken up by her screaming. Kakuzu and I got to her room first and found her flailing on her bed. You showed up not too soon after." Itachi stated, resting himself against the desk on the far wall.

Kisame nodded as he looked over the scratches around Shiryoku's eyes. Tears had mixed with her blood, creating pink tear trails that ran along her blue scarred skin. "In the bathroom, there's antiseptic next to the washbowl and clean bandages, bring them to me." Kisame said, rolling the girl off of his lap back onto the mattress. Itachi did as he was told and returned a moment later with the supplies. Kisame knelt beside the unconscious woman and began cleaning and dressing her eyes. "We'll need to borrow Deidara's extra cloak. It's the only one small enough." Kisame stated, keeping his attention on Shiryoku's eyes.

"Why?"

"We're taking her to Amegakure."


	13. Chapter 13

"We should take the river north." Itachi said as Kisame holstered Samehada to his back. The pair was quietly planning their leave of the base after gathering anything they may need. They had manage to talk Deidara into loaning Shiryoku his cloak. One mention of the unconscious girl and the explosives expert jumped at the chance to join them on their journey north. Deidara would not listen to Itachi's claims that they needed to maintain an element of stealth in taking the girl to Amegakure - something that he believed Deidara incapable of in this instance. But Kisame managed to silence the blond merely by telling their pest to "fuck off".

The journey to Amegakure would only take about half a day, and as members of Akatsuki, getting in to the isolated village would hopefully be easy for them. Kisame figured once they breached the village's defenses, they would either be taken into custody by Ame's shinobi force - which in all honesty would be easy for Itachi and him to escape - or the sight of the red clouds on their cloaks would grant them an all access pass anywhere inside the industrialized village.

The pair wanted to move quickly, hoping they would get out of the Land of Rivers before Shiryoku could wake up. They could move faster with the unconscious girl, and Kisame truly believed her people in Tanigakure could not follow her while she was unconscious. He didn't know why he was so cautious of Shiryoku's family finding them, but Kisame knew that the girl would suffer a terrifying fate if they were to get a hold of her. In his mind, running away from the Kawamoto family was tantamount to his desertion of Kiri. Should she ever return to that family, nightmares awaited her.

When they retuned to Shiryoku's room, Kisame was relieved to see that she was still laying as she had been when he left her. He and Itachi had only been gone for mere moments, but seeing her completely unconscious put Kisame slightly at ease about their forthcoming departure. He preferred the unconscious Shiryoku to the shrieking woman he had experienced only minutes ago. Kisame would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't worried about the sudden turn her condition had taken. If he had just stopped Hidan from trekking across the lake, she wouldn't be in the position she was in now. But he would not let himself dwell on that; Kisame was doing what he could for her now.

Itachi stepped inside the room and began fumbling around, trying to sit Shiryoku upright long enough to wrangle her into the cloak. But somehow the man couldn't seem to figure out how to dress the unconscious woman. It was slightly amusing to Kisame, watching Itachi try to balance the girl against his shoulder while finagling the cloak around her arms. For someone as coordinated as Itachi, this clumsy ballet he was preforming was quite a feat. Kisame only watched Itachi struggle with the cloak for a moment before holding the girl upright by her shoulders for Itachi's convenience. He slipped her arms easily through the black sleeves before zipping her inside.

"Let's go." Kisame said as he placed his straw hat on his head. He folded the girl's arms across her chest before picking her up, holding her delicately like a babe in arms. Shiryoku's skull gently rolled against his chest, effectively hiding her face. The pair quietly made their way through the caves, heading for the hidden entrance connected to the largest river in the country. They barely breached the mouth of the cave as Tobi popped out of the shadows.

"What are Kisa-senpai and itachi-senpai doing with Shiryo-chan?"

"She needs a doctor." Itachi stated coldly.

"Is Shiryo-chan going to be alright?"

"She will be once we get her out of here." Kisame replied. The pair kept walking past the masked man.

"Where are Kisa-senpai and Itachi-senpai taking Shiryo-chan?" Tobi skipped behind them, peering over Kisame's shoulder at the comatose girl.

"Amegakure." Itachi said, stopping at the base's entrance.

"Tanigakure is closer. If Shiryo-chan needs a doctor -"

"Amegakure is better for her." Kisame interrupted Tobi as he joined Itachi at the mouth of the cave.

"Does Pein -"

"They don't know we are coming." Kisame said before stepping out into the early morning. The had barely begun to rise, but the world was light enough to see clearly by. The section of the river that flowed outside of the base ran from east to west, but if they turned west it would begin flowing north after a couple of miles.

"We should reach the border in about four hours. Putting us in Amegakure around nine, if we don't run into anyone." Itachi stated as the pair dashed across the water's surface.

"Well, here's hoping she stays out of it long enough for us to get to Amegakure." Kisame retorted, shifting the girl in his arms with a slight bounce. Running across the water with the girl confined in his arms was turning our to be rather difficult. He did not want to jostle her too much. Kisame still did not know exactly what had caused the screaming fit she had put them through, and despite being unconscious the woman could still be in an immeasurable amount of pain. Moving her too much could potentially add to her strife.

* * *

"How long until we reach the border?" Kisame asked as he felt his sword give a small wiggle against his back. He had noticed Shiryoku had started subtly responding the jostling movements of his running, and had heard a couple quiet whimpers come from her.

"About a half-hour." Itachi responded, looking over to the large man. "Is she waking up?"

"I think so."

"What makes you think her family won't come searching for her once we cross the border? They followed her all the way to Konoha. What is to stop them now?"

"Akatsuki." Kisame answered dully. "She was awake in the base just outside of their village, and yet they never tried to get her back. If they aren't stupid enough to attack an Akatsuki base, they won't try to infiltrate Headquarters." Kisame glanced down at the girl as she nuzzled her face against his broad chest. She let out a soft sigh, pulling herself further out of her dreamworld. He had really hoped she would have stayed out of it until they reached Amegakure, but that was not to be.

A rolling thunderclap pulled the partners' attention to the sky. Storm clouds had rolled in from the country ahead of them; they would break in a matter of minutes. As much as Kisame loved water and swimming, rain was bothersome to him. Rain was not refreshing and it drenched everything in an annoying sense of wetness that clung to him, making Kisame feel sticky. He much preferred the sense of being encased in a lake. However, this rain could be beneficial to the trio. They would have to leave the river soon - it would take a sharp turn east into the Land of Fire in a couple miles, forcing them to walk the land. As soon as the rain hit, any traces and scents they left would be easily destroyed, making tracking them that much more difficult.

The downside of walking on land in the rain was that they were still in River Country. The land was nothing but slippery, craggy valleys and rivers. Virtually no vegetation grew, except for a few small farms near the eastern border with the Land of Fire. Trudging through the terrain in the rain while carrying the girl would be more dangerous than Kisame cared to admit. Especially if Samehada didn't start behaving himself and stopped squirming around on his back. Kisame never thought he would see the day when Samehada started to piss him off, but the damned thing would not stop chirping like a lovestruck puppy every time Shiryoku was awake.

If the girl were to wake up, it would be easier on Kisame to have her walk by herself. But, having her walk through the slippery countryside would mean they would have to move slower, keeping in mind that the blind girl would not be able to see any of the wet stone she was treading on. She would slow the two Akatsuki down, giving their pursuers - if there even were any - time to catch up to the two Akatsuki. And if any of them possessed the Kawamoto family Kekkei Genkai, Itachi and Kisame would be in for one hell of a fight. The pair had yet to see the full effect of Shiryoku's Kekkei Genkai, but Kisame had no plans for ever finding out just how powerful her family could be. He had spent time inside one of Itachi's Genjutsus, Kisame would have to describe the experience as unpleasant at best - and that was being kind. But to have a Genjutsu cast upon him that would become a reality would be a living hell.

According to Shiryoku, the only members of her family that were allowed this power were the head of the clan and his heir. Which up until a few weeks ago had been Shiryoku's father and elder brother. Her brother's death was a result of Shiryoku awakening her own powers, leaving her father as the only other user of their Kekkei Genkai. If there was anyone tailing the pair, Kisame doubted the head of the most powerful clan in Tanigakure would be running after them.

"Kisame…" Shiryoku whispered quietly. Her fist tightly latched onto his Akatsuki cloak as she stirred against his chest. The sword at his back began to growl ferociously, wriggling against him as if it were trying to break free of its holster. Kisame slowed his speed, but did not stop moving all together. Itachi followed suite, matching Kisame's pace. Her voice was groggy and rasped from her haggard screams that had echoed through the cave only hours ago. The girl let out a small groan as her face contorted into a painful grimace. Baring her pointed teeth, a muffled yelp escaped her. Her small body convulsed once or twice before the death grip she held on Kisame's cloak was released with a small spasm. Samehada let loose a pained whimper. The sword's leather handle twisted around Kisame's shoulder in what Kisame guessed was an attempt to touch the girl. But the handle was just short enough that it could not make contact with the girl. The blasted thing began urgently trying to extend itself as much as it possibly could. After a brief moment of twisting and pulling at Kisame's back, Samehada gave up on its quest to touch the unconscious woman, returning to its resting position. As soon as the sword stopped moving, Shiryoku's dark purple head rolled away from Kisame's chest; she was out cold again.

The storm clouds over head broke, casting a downpour of fat raindrops on the trio. Shiryoku's face was soon drenched as the rain attacked her. The raindrops left splotches of blue skin wherever the water came into contact with her. Within seconds of the clouds opening, every inch of Shiryoku's exposed skin matched Kisame's skintone perfectly. Kisame bounced the unconscious girl lightly, rolling her face under the protection of his straw hat. Leaning forward so that his face was centimeter's from Shiryoku, Kisame bit onto the soaked bandages covering her eyes, cutting them free from her face. He did not quite understand why he did this, but something in his gut told him that the wet dressings should not be allowed to remain on her face. The bandages fell to the river's surface where the rain pelted at them, forcing the heavy material under the water.

"We need to get off the river." Itachi stated as the pair started to regain the speed they had lost while thinking the girl was waking up. Kisame nodded as they took a sharp turn away from the river.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?" Pein asked as he coolly walked into the room where Kisame awaited him. The large male stood at the literal mouth of Pein's Tower. He was perched on the tongue of one of the four faces of the tower, facing south as he watched the rain pouring over the city. Kisame had yet to change out of his drenched clothing after leaving the unconscious Shiryoku in Konan's care.

"I told Konan why Itachi and I are here." Kisame stated, not bothering to look away from the damp village below. "She needs medical attention. And because she is effectively a fugitive from Tanigakure, Ame was our only option."

"This is unacceptable."

"What else should we have done?" Kisame asked as he turned to face the ginger man. "You were the one who decided to keep her and study her Kekkei Genkai. This is what happens when she uses that power."

"It was your responsibility to keep her from using that power until -"

"No, you made training her my responsibility." Kisame spat at the Akatsuki leader. "I cannot control a power I do not understand. By all rights she should not be able to use that Kekkei Genkai. How would you expect me to control that which should not exist!?"

"And so you bring her to me to become my responsibility?"

"I brought her here because I don't know what else to do." Kisame answered honestly. "Shiryoku is in pain. She needs someone to help her."

Pein said nothing as he waved Kisame away. The shark left the room begrudgingly, slamming the door behind him. The orange haired man slowly made his way to the mouth of the tower face and waited for his companion to come out from the shadows.

"What do you think should be done?" Pein asked as the masked man finally came forward.

"I believe that, despite this set back, the girl will still prove useful to us." Madara spoke as he joined Pein at the tower face. "Get her the medical attention Kisame thinks she needs."

"If something of this magnitude happens every time she uses her Kekkei Genkai -"

"Then we will use her once and be done with her. I don't care if we only make use of her power for a singular event, If she dies so be it. But, my investment will be worthwhile."

* * *

**Hey, so sorry about not posting anything new for awhile. Life kind of got in the way. But, I should be posting on a more regular basis from now on... hopefully.**

**Lots of love!**


	14. Chapter 14

Itachi stood against the far wall of the room in which Konan had left Shiryoku. The pale haired woman had left to summon a doctor she had kept on retainer for Nagito. After Kisame and Itachi's brief explanation of what had been happening with Shiryoku, Konan knew Shiryoku's condition was far outside of her own expertise. Kisame had been sent off to speak with Pein, leaving the Uchiha alone with the girl.

He pushed himself away from the wall, nimbly stalking towards the bed on which she lay. The closer the young Uchiha came to Shiryoku, the more he realized how haggard her breathing was. From a distance, she looked as though she were taking normal, deep breaths, but on closer inspection, Itachi noticed how shallowed and labored breathing was for her. "Kisame does not do anything for anyone." Itachi stated as he knelt down to Shiryoku's level. "He does not teach them, he does not clean their wounds. He does not let himself care for people. And, he does not understand it yet, but the longer you stay like this, the more it will hurt him. So either wake up or let the pain kill you."

Itachi peeled away a lock of soaked hair that clung to her forehead. The pale blue skin underneath baffled Itachi. When they had found her, he and Kisame believed changing color was only possible when she stood in direct sunlight, but now it seems if she were to get wet, she takes on a new skin tone as well. In the sunshine, the woman took on a slight blue hue - it was enough to notice a difference in her skin tone, but not enough to completely change her appearance. But under the influence of water, the transformation to the blue tone was complete. There was absolutely no trace of her tanned flesh tone anywhere to be found within her blue splotches. The wet skin looked so much like Kisame's own skin that Itachi wondered if there was some form of connection, no matter how distant, between the two. Shiryoku's entire body took on a kaleidoscopic effect as patches of her skin dried and returned to a tanned tone. Although, Itachi didn't know which color was her 'natural' tone anymore.

"Where's Konan?" Kisame asked from the doorway to the room. He had yet to change out of his drenched cloak that clung to every inch of his torso. He unholstered Samehada and set it down as he leaned against the doorframe. The sword was just as soaked as it's master - its waterlogged bandages sagged in a couple places revealing random scales.

"Fetching a doctor." Itachi replied. He stood from the girl and returned to his spot on the far wall. Itachi had only come on this trip because Kisame had, in his strange way, asked. Kisame, the man who always placed the mission above all else, wanted to help this girl. And Itachi could not refuse Kisame in this instance. But, there was a nagging question at the back of Itachi's mind that he was afraid to ask his large partner. After a strained silence, Itachi asked the question he had been suppressing all day, "what if they can't do anything for her?"

"They will." Kisame assured his partner.

"Since when do you put faith in anyone?"

"Because Pein is right…" Kisame uttered. Itachi threw a questioning glance at his partner when Kisame did not expand on his explanation. The two Akatsuki stood silently as they waited for Konan to return. The only sound to be heard was the rain pattering hard against the metal exterior of the tower. Like most of the rooms in Pein's Tower, this one was devoid of windows. And with very few lighting sources within the tower, the building lived in a constant haze of darkness. Other than an occasional grumble from Samehada, the inhabitants of the small room remained quiet. Itachi would glance at Kisame periodically, but the Uchiha could not figure out what his partner was thinking. Kisame was staring intently at the comatose girl; his eyebrows knotted themselves together as he worked through some problem in his head.

"Kisame." Konan's voice echoed from outside the room. He turned to see the purple-haired woman standing down the hall. She was holding the hallway door closed. She hesitated to speak again, looking urgently between Kisame and the door she was holding. It was as if she were torn to talk with Kisame or continue on with her business.

"What?" He asked stepping completely out of Shiryoku's room.

"The people of Amegakure don't know about Akatsuki's accumulation of missing nin. Itachi can pass for another Ame Akatsuki, but you… "

"But me, what?" He asked indignantly. Kisame knew instantly where Konan was taking this conversation and he would not allow her to skirt around what she was implying

"I mean nothing by it, however the doctor I've brought can't see you -" She paused knowing she had crossed a line. "… Either put your hat on or leave the room."

"You mean nothing by it?" Kisame scoffed. "If you can't let the quack see the giant blue man, how are you going to explain Shiryoku? She's still got blue patches. The scars around her eyes are blue, dammit! If you're too afraid of how he'd react to this monster, what do you think he'll make of the girl?" Anger was slowly burning inside him. It fueled a rage he had not felt in the years since he left Kiri. Everyone in Akatsuki was an outcast of one form or another; comments about his coloration had virtually died after joining the organization. Hidan would still bring it up every now and again whenever the two of them would fight. But to have Konan - one of the only people outside of Itachi that he felt a rapport with - doing this to him now of all times was unacceptable.

"Kisame, we're wasting time." Konan stated coolly as Kisame tried to suppress the anger he felt towards the pale woman.

"Fuck you." Kisame hissed at Konan. He yanked the straw hat from his back, pulling it low over his face as he stalked back into Shiryoku's room. Itachi had heard their short conversation. He wanted to apologize to Kisame for what was happening, but Konan walked in just behind Kisame. But for once, the Uchiha was grateful for the permanently dark state the tower was in. The darkness helped to hide the blue scars that cover Shiryoku's face. At least there was one aspect of Shiryoku's 'otherness' that the doctor would not be able to easily make out. The feeling of fury that emanated from the large man was tangible. Konan pointed to Itachi then her forehead mouthing the word 'off'. Itachi quickly pulled his scratched forehead protector off his head before an elderly man came into the room.

"This is her?" The man asked taking a step towards Shiryoku's bed. He knelt over the unconscious girl, picking up her wrist to check her pulse.

"Yes." Konan replied. She moved through the room to stand at the foot of the bed, stopping so that she stood between Kisame and the doctor's line of sight. The large man shifted uncomfortably before letting out an almost inaudible growl. Konan was blocking his view of the doctor's examination of Shiryoku. Even Itachi could sense Kisame's death glare at the purple-haired kunoichi.

"How did she come to be like this?" The doctor asked as he poked at the scar material around Shiryoku's eyes.

"An accident when she was a child." Konan answered for the two partners. "She is blind because of it." The woman stated before the doctor could ask about the membrane that coated her eyeballs.

"And her condition now?"

"She fainted while training." Itachi spoke up. "Something caused an -" From the corner of his eye, Itachi saw Kisame turn to look at him. "An explosion of chakra from her. She passed out and has been unconscious since."

"Anything else?" The doctor began examining Shiryoku's head. He carefully rolled her head to the side, pulling a mass of her wet hair away from her cheek. His hands recoiled by the sight of the blue skin that he was met with. The doctor immediately looked to Konan, shock and abhorrence glossing over his face. Before he could ask the meaning of the change in her skin tone, Kisame spoke up.

"She's in pain." Kisame stated stepping away from the far corner. He kept his face hidden beneath his hat and his fists were hidden deep within the pockets of his cloak. Itachi eyed his partner as the large man took his place at the foot of Shiryoku's bed, subtly nudging Konan off to the side.

"How do you know?" The doctor asked his attention momentarily drawn to the large man.

"Shiryoku's woken up twice today before passing out again." Kisame replied. "The first time she was screaming and writhing in pain. It took all my strength to keep her still. The second time wasn't as intense, she convulsed a couple times and moaned and groaned, but… Something is hurting her."

"You say there was a chakra explosion?" The doctor reiterated after continuing his examination.

"Yes." Kisame and Itachi answered in unison.

"Was she attempting a dojutsu?" The three Akatsuki were mildly taken back by the doctor's astute observation.

"Her family's Kekkei Genkai is a form of ocular power." Kisame answered purposefully being vague about her power. He did not want to elaborate on what exactly Shiryoku's family was capable of.

"Recently activated despite her blindness?"

"Yes." Itachi and Kisame replied. As they did, the doctor's hands began to glow green with medicinal chakra as they probed Shiryoku's body. His hands stopped moving once they reached her eyes. He held his hands in place for a moment before moving to the top of her skull.

"It appears to be a form of Chakra Toxidrome." The doctor sighed regretfully before removing his hands and turning to face the three Akatsuki.

"Chakra Toxi - what?" Kisame asked.

"People can overdose on chakra, just as they can with virtually any substance. Alcohol poisoning and water intoxication run along the same vein as Chakra Toxidrome. In this instance, toxic levels of chakra have built up in this girl's system. Specifically within the portions of the chakra network in her eyes - which is interesting given that she is blind. Those chakra veins should have died when she lost the ability to see. Because they haven't, whenever she molds chakra that should be going to her Kekkei Genkai, it has nowhere to go, so it builds up and deposits itself in her eyes. This can create poisonous levels of chakra, and produces one hell of an explosion of chakra as well. In her case, it's managed to stay located in her eyes, and she's lucky for that. Levels this high could easily infect the chakra network in her brain. Given that her family's power is ocular in combination with her blindness, I'm not surprised this happened."

"Is there anything that can be done for her?" Konan asked.

"Her system needs to be purged. All chakra that's built up, any reserves she may have, everything; she needs to get rid of it. There are special chakra suppressants that have been created just for that, but they work very slowly. If you had brought her in to see a doctor the day that she went comatose, she would probably be awake and fine by tomorrow afternoon."

"And you have these suppressants? You can use them on Shiryoku?" Kisame asked.

"Of course I can." The doctor snorted derisively. "It will take a couple days for her to heal, but she should be fine. Like I said, she's lucky this isn't in her brain. Chakra Toxidrome of the brain could cause irreparable damage. But I would suggest that you make her refrain from ever using whatever Kekkei Genkai she is supposed to possess. Because she is blind and the chakra network in her eyes isn't dead, it is obviously very weak. Using that ocular power could - no, will affect her brain. And if this happens, it could easily kill her."

"Thank you." Konan said as she ushered the doctor from the room. Itachi and Kisame could hear her make plans to bring back the suppressants after returning him to his practice. As soon as the pair was out of the hallway, Kisame wrenched his hat from his head and threw it against the wall.

"Fuck that paper maché bitch!" He wailed before hammering his fist into the wall. A stream of obscenities that Itachi had never heard came pouring from Kisame as he continued to beat the wall. Itachi could count the number of times Kisame had sworn over the years - majority of which were directed at Hidan - but today it seemed the blue man had snapped. Kisame sounded more like the silver-haired Jashinist than himself as he worked through the rage he was feeling.

"Kisame." Itachi said pulling the large man's attention away from the hole he was punching into the tower. "Go change out of your wet clothes." Kisame was about to fire back at Itachi, but a grumble from Samehada kept him from speaking. The large man look down at his hand, which was busted and bleeding from nearly punching through the wall. He growled an unintelligible curse before wiping away the blood staining his knuckles. Unzipping his cloak, Kisame stalked from the room. He threw the wet mantle to the ground as he made his way down the hallway cursing under his breath.

Itachi left the room a moment later, knowing that someone would be back to see to the girl shortly. Either Kisame would come back once he changed clothes and calmed down, or Konan would be back to purge the girl's chakra. As soon as the Uchiha was out of the room, Samehada dropped to the floor and began slithering away from the doorframe and towards Shiryoku. It wrapped its handle around Shiryoku's arm and started chirping and purring as if talking to the girl.


	15. Chapter 15

Kisame purposefully wore as little clothing as possible after changing out of his damp cloak, leaving all but his legs exposed. He even removed his hitai-ate to reveal his forehead and ears. He was going to make Konan look at as much of his blue skin as possible in the next couple of days while Shiryoku's system was purged of it's chakra. It was inexcusable, the way she had treated him, and Kisame was feeling vengeful. Killing her was not an option, so he may as well make her miserable.

His whole life in Kiri had revolved around the color of his skin. He was a pariah and an outcast, forced to live a lonely existence on the streets because of the coloration of his skin. Kisame was forced to survive at all costs because people would look at him as something 'other' - something less than human. Those people would always be in his life no matter how hard he fought against them. The only way to escape them was to make them choke on their own defeat. In the academy he was constantly sporting fresh bruises and busted lips because the other students needed to prove they were superior to the Monster. But he got his revenge on them when he graduated - every last one of those abusive little shits were dead now.

Then the miracle came; he became a disciple of the Seven Swordsmen. Kisame had always been an excellent swordsman. From the first moment he picked up a Chokutō, he knew the sword was at home in his hands. But to become a student under one of the Seven, chosen by the Fourth Mizukage himself… Kisame had finally found his place in his village. He finally was someone who would not just be feared, but respected. The faith that the Mizukage had placed in Kisame renewed the blue man's love and loyalty to his village. And members of the village even began treating the blue shinobi with a certain amount of respect he had thirsted for his entire life.

The majority of the villagers were still hold-outs believing him to be a monster, but the few street urchins and aspiring shinobi that looked to him with admiration reminded him that he was so much more than the blue-skinned monster he believed himself to be. So much that when Fuguki would assign him the messy missions, Kisame would carry them out without question or hesitation. Becoming one of the Seven gave Kisame a future he never knew he had. One day he would inherit his sword, taking his rightful place as the highest of shinobi in Kiri. He would eventually take on a student to pass on his sword and legacy. Hell, he even thought of spawning a couple kids with one of the women who had started thinking twice about him - that fiery Mei girl was one hell of a woman. Kirigakure would never forget the name of the shark.

But his name became infamous for reasons Kisame had never planned on. The two men who had given him his future turned out to be nothing more than easily corruptible, false prophets; spewing lies and treachery. Everything he had done: killing his comrades, dreaming of a future, believing the Mizukage had a plan for his life - all shattered dreams crushed by the lies of his village. He had slaughtered his own comrades and done terrible things all in the name of his home. Kirigakure suddenly became hollow and empty. It stood for nothing, and nothing Kisame had come to want mattered any longer.

That damned Madara convinced him to continue working in Kirigakure for a little while longer before finally selling him on the deal he would receive in Akatsuki. Tsuki no Me would give him a world without the lies. Kisame could have everything that he deserved so long as he shifted his loyalty from the broken Kiri to Akatsuki. At the time, Akatsuki was still a rather small scale organization that had taken over Amegakure, and Kisame was one of the first outsiders invited to join. Pein was still the official leader of the group, but Kisame knew better. If Madara were involved, there was no way he was not pulling at the strings from the shadows. But no matter how eager Kisame was to lend his services to the group, he was never allowed into Amegakure. He was fine with that for the most part. The former shinobi was more than capable to complete missions that Pein would send him on. A couple Madara had secretly pushed his way well. But as the new Akatsuki grew, Madara began to bow out of Kisame's periphery. Eventually the great Uchiha Itachi came to be partnered with him. The boy never mentioned Kisame's coloration, and despite a rocky start, the two came to respect one another.

It had been years since anyone who's opinion mattered to Kisame had spoken up about the color of his skin. The members of Akatsuki just didn't care what color his skin was - unless Hidan was up in arms about one stupid thing or another. All that mattered to them was his ability to carry out a mission. And despite the setback with catching that damn Uzumaki jinchuuriki a few weeks previously, Kisame had a perfect record. But now after years of silence, after finally thinking that maybe, _maybe_, these people did not care what he looked like, to have that purple-haired woman bring it up when he came to her for help pissed him off beyond measure.

_'This is why you don't ask people for help. All they will ever do is stab you in the back.'_ His inner voice sighed as another angry shiver wracked Kisame's body.

"We didn't do this for ourself." The piece of Kisame's mind that was trying to calm him down piped up. "We came here to help Shiryoku."

_'And this is what we get for it? We get asked to hide our body - we get ostracized because people are close-minded assholes!?'_

"Ignore those ignorant asses. What matters at this point is that we keep Shiryoku from using that Kekkei Genkai ever again. If she does, all of this would be in vain."

_'Is Shiryoku all you think about? What about us? That origami doll humiliated us.'_

"Yes, she did. And if something happens to Shiryoku, enduring that will mean nothing."

Kisame shook his head violently, trying to force the arguing voices out of his mind. He trudged from the cramped bathroom where he had dried off and made his way towards Shiryoku's room. The blue man walked proudly, showing off his blue skin in all his self-loathing glory. He was hoping that he would run into Konan on his way back to Shiryoku just to rub the color of his skin in as a passive aggressive 'fuck you and the people of this damned village'.

He did happen upon Konan as he walked down the hallway, but she was far enough ahead of him that she paid no mind to him. The woman was more than three-quarters of the way towards Shiryoku's room from Kisame's position and practically on the girl's doorstep. She disappeared inside the room for a moment before Kisame heard an angry snarl.

"What the hell!?" She practically yelled as she recoiled out of the room. The graceful woman tripped over her own feet, falling to the ground with a heavy thump. Kisame sprinted towards the down kunoichi, vaulting over her to clear his way into Shiryoku's room. The sight that met him seemed almost as ordinary as when he had left her in his fit of anger. She was still in the same exact position, save for her right arm that had been pulled off her bed by Samehada.

The sword had managed to snake its way from where Kisame had left it, pulling off its bandages as it did, and wrap its hilt around Shiryoku's arm. Kisame could see small traces of a deep, royal blue beginning to sprout on Shiryoku's arm between the cracks of the sword's twist. It was far too different from the light blue-grey that had taken over her wet body to be natural. The rest of her right arm was colored in the more natural blue that Kisame knew. The coloration snaked from her arm to her shoulder and partially across the girl's chest. The sword was quietly purring to itself, tightening and relaxing its hold of Shiryoku's arm as it did. The mouth at the end of it's scales seemed to be twisted into a predatory smile.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kisame demanded. He marched further into the room to attempt to pry the sword off of the girl. As he did, Samehada's jaw snapped at Kisame before issuing a warning growl. He stood his ground, but the sword continued to nip at his feet. Backing away from the bed soothed the scaled sword; it ceased snarling once Kisame was standing just inside the doorway. Samehada grumbled a few times - cursing Kisame for encroaching on its perceived territory - before it began its docile purring again.

"Kisame?" Konan asked, finally entering the room and standing beside Kisame. Ignoring Konan, he crouched to the ground in an attempt to examine the situation from afar.

_'What are you doing?'_ He thought, angling his head to get a different perspective of the sword's hold on Shiryoku. Kisame could see the underside of Samehada's hilt. He had thought the sword had completely wrapped itself around her arm, but at this angle, Kisame could see her hand hanging limp at an awkward angle. Her palm should have been facing the ground, but instead it rested facing Samehada's hilt. Crawling forward, Kisame tried to get a closer look. The damned sword could have broken her wrist for all he knew. He managed to move two paces before Samehada lunged at Kisame. The sword's jaw clamped down on Kisame's shoulder before throwing him to the ground. It tackled him so forcefully that Samehada should have pulled Shiryoku's shoulder out of socket and dislocated her shoulder. Samehada's body slithered across Kisame, threatening to shave at him should he try to move again. But Kisame was not paying attention to the scaled blades resting against his exposed skin or even the teeth that had sunken into his shoulder.

Once Samehada's fangs had bitten into Kisame, the man had lost the ability to control any piece of his body. A surge of chakra shot to his gut, sending bursts of euphoric electricity pulsating through his veins. The dusty smell of Kiri fog bombarded his senses, encasing him in the feeling of standing in the haze of his home. Samehada's scales no longer felt like sharp knives laying atop him, but smokey tendrils of mist licking his skin. Rapturous electricity that wormed it's way through his body hit his lungs, compelling Kisame to gasp for air. All oxygen was forced out of his lungs by the surge. It was not a painful experience liked being winded from a sucker punch was. Instead, there was a pleasant weight to his inability to catch his breath. This was like the satisfied breathlessness that came from riding out the most intense orgasm he had ever felt. Kisame groaned as air slowly worked back into his lungs. Unable to support his own head, it flopped to side; his face hit the floor with a light thump. Comets of color sped across his field of vision in between the white pulses of his brain begging for oxygen, while the room about him shifted in and out of focus. A growing heated knot pooled in his stomach, mixing with the electrical pulses and sending his stomach into a series of spins. It made Kisame feel nauseous, but damn it if it wasn't the most pleasurable experience of his life.

There was no doubt that this was Shiryoku's chakra that had overtaken his senses. The euphoric chakra was being injected like a drug directly into Kisame's system by Samehada. It took him awhile to realize the sword was siphoning off the girl's chakra, but as soon as Kisame's foggy brain made the connection, Samehada released its grip. It remained laying on his stomaching, purring happily before slithering off of him. Kisame propped himself up by his elbows to see Samehada nudge lovingly against Shiryoku as it continued to purr.

"Are you alright?" Konan asked cautiously skirting toward the downed Kisame.

"I'm fine." He replied as he pushed himself from the floor. Konan offered her hand to help pull him, but he swept the hand away as he stumbled to the wall next to Shiryoku's bed. Kisame leaned against the solid wall, his legs were too jellied from aftereffects of Shiryoku's chakra to be trusted to stand up. His heart was pounding against his chest as he had yet to fully catch his breath. An annoying pressure came into his periphery as he realized his had trousers grown taut against his groin; the overwhelming sense of being encased in Shiryoku's chakra had aroused him to the point of becoming half-hard. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to pull his thoughts from his insatiable need to be enveloped in the girl's chakra again. Breathing deeply, Kisame focused his thoughts on what that damned sword was doing. "Samehada is absorbing Shiryoku's chakra." Kisame explained after taking a moment to put his thoughts back together and calm himself down a little.

"What? Why?"

"She needs her chakra purged, doesn't she? Samehada's way is a hell of a lot faster than those stupid things." Kisame nodded his head toward the objects in Konan's hand. He chuckled before massaging the shoulder Samehada had bitten. It hurt like hell, but at least the sword had conscience enough to help heal the wound before disengaging from Kisame.

Konan looked to the small chakra suppressants that she held in her hand. With a sigh, she apologized to the large man. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier." Kisame stopped rubbing his shoulder, but said nothing as he watched Konan work through her apology. "I could try to justify what I said, but I know it won't make any difference in -"

"Just shut up."

Konan nodded her head slightly. "Find me when she wakes up. I'd like to check her vitals when she does." She exited the room unceremoniously, leaving Kisame alone while his sword joyously drank Shiryoku's chakra.

Hours ticked by slowly as Kisame watched Samehada engorge itself on the blessed chakra the girl provided. Every now and again, the sword's whole body would shudder with a lustful growl. Kisame would sneer widely when he heard Samehada enjoying itself. He knew fully how delicious that chakra was. Every ounce of self control he had was screaming at him to stay against the wall and not drown himself in her chakra. Despite his lower hindbrain begging him to give in to his desire, Kisame stayed put. With one final shudder, the sword relinquished its hold of her arm. Samehada snaked its way under the girl's bed where Kisame could hear it chirp contentedly, approving of its delicious meal.

The deep blue color that had overtaken her arm slowly melted back into her blue-grey tone, eventually reverting back to a tanned, fleshy tone. Kisame noticed her fingers twitching as the last of the blue died away. Making his way towards her, he watched Shiryoku begin to wiggle and stretch as her body started to wake up.

"Shiryoku?" He whispered into her ear and took hold of the hand Samehada had latched onto. Her skin was freezing, but she rolled onto her side, pulling her hand from Kisame's grip. With her back to him, she curled into a ball and sighed. "Shiryoku. Wake up." He rolled her to face him.

"No…" she groaned before burying her face into her mattress.

"Wake up." Kisame tried to pull her face away from the bed, but her hand was suddenly pressing firmly against his cheek. Although she tried pushing him away from him, her inability to move the man was laughable. Snickering lightly, he pushed back until she could no longer keep her hold on his face. Her hand slipped away and landed with a heavy thud. Shiryoku lifted her head lazily. Her hair had dried in a matted clump that hung comically in front of the girl's face. Kisame attempted to move her hair behind her ears, but she began sniffing lightly at the air. He stayed his hand waiting to see what the girl was sniffing at.

"Where are we?"


End file.
